https://medicalxpress.com/cancer-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Oncology Few young adults receive palliative care (PC) as part of treatment for stage 4 solid tumors or poor-prognosis high-grade brain tumors, according to a research letter published online July 23 in JAMA Network Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-young-adults-palliative-advanced-cancer.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:20:01 EDT news704463859 Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor and is among the most aggressive cancers in humans. Despite multimodal therapy with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, there is still no cure. A major reason is the tumor's invasive behavior: Glioblastoma cells migrate far beyond the visible tumor into healthy brain tissue. These infiltrating cells cannot be completely removed and seed tumor recurrence—often within just a few months. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-human-tissue-tracks-glioblastoma-invasion.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:40:03 EDT news704470742 Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence-based method that could significantly improve the detection and classification of brain tumors from MRI scans, achieving higher accuracy than conventional diagnostic systems. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-brain-tumors-mri-images.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:40:03 EDT news704450432 How cancer develops and responds to treatment depends not only on the tumor cells themselves but also on the complex ecosystem of surrounding immune cells, blood vessels and connective tissue. In B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, these cellular neighborhoods can determine whether a tumor grows, evades the immune system or responds to therapy. Understanding this spatial organization has become one of the major challenges in cancer research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-software-decode-cellular-architecture-lymphoma.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:00:04 EDT news704463071 Scientists at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and collaborators have uncovered a rare genetic mutation that enables some blood cancers to evade both approved Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors and newer BTK degraders, a finding that could help shape the next generation of therapies for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and related malignancies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-reveals-blood-cancers-outsmart-btk.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:40:06 EDT news704463002 A Mayo Clinic-led international phase 3 study found that a new immunotherapy helped many patients with an aggressive form of bladder cancer keep their bladder instead of having it surgically removed. The treatment also kept many patients cancer-free for more than two years and caused mostly mild side effects. The findings were published in The Lancet Oncology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-experimental-immunotherapy-patients-high-bladder.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:20:07 EDT news704461261 A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by La Trobe University researchers could help predict which stage 2 bowel cancer patients are at risk of relapse, an advance that could ultimately lead to thousands getting life-saving treatment earlier. Bowel cancer is Australia's fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death. Worldwide, it is the third most common cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-tool-bowel-cancer-relapse.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:20:05 EDT news704458981 Scientists at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), have found a potential path to maintaining the cancer-fighting benefits of one type of immunotherapy while limiting harmful organ damage, providing new hope for this promising treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blocking-key-receptor-curb-immunotherapy.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:00:08 EDT news704460061 A large new study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Cancer Institute finds that cancer-related health care expenses continue to be high for older adults, varying substantially by cancer type and how early it is caught. Spending was greatest for patients diagnosed with advanced cancers, especially at the end of life, exceeding $100,000 per year. The study is published in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cancer-high-vary-substantially-stage.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:00:03 EDT news704458502 In a recent study, researchers examined whether certain chemicals present in public drinking water are linked to uterine cancer, the most common gynecological cancer in the United States and one that has been steadily increasing in incidence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-chemicals-hidden-uterine-cancer.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:10:02 EDT news704452062 A cancer diagnosis can turn life upside down, but new research suggests that its consequences reach far beyond physical health. Patients diagnosed with cancer are twice as likely to develop a mental disorder later in life as cancer-free individuals, according to a new study involving nearly 300,000 Danish cancer patients who had no previous history of mental illness. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cancer-patients-mental-disorder.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:40:02 EDT news704451243 Low brain metabolism as measured by ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT is associated with higher mortality in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to new research published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Incorporating brain ¹⁸F-FDG uptake alongside clinical, tumor and biological data improved prediction of overall survival, providing physicians with valuable insight to help identify patients most likely to benefit from early supportive care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-metabolism-survival-advanced-nonsmall.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 21:40:05 EDT news704367529 Artificial intelligence developed by researchers at UCL has revealed a promising combination of cancer treatments that could help patients with locally advanced rectal cancer live longer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-analysis-tailor-treatment-locally.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 18:30:01 EDT news704364121 A new way for hard-to-treat cancer cells to protect themselves from being killed by anticancer drugs has been found. The novel method involves tumors hijacking specific defenses for repairing damaged DNA, which are easier to block than previously known mechanisms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-weak-linked-dna-aggressive-drug.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 18:00:07 EDT news704389621 Scientists in Vermont have just discovered something that shouldn't really be possible: a skin cancer that's spreading from catfish to catfish. It's only the fourth transmissible cancer ever found in nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-animals-cancer-species-humans.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 18:00:02 EDT news704376422 In a discovery that could redefine the future of cancer immunotherapy, scientists from Celloram Inc., University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University have developed a novel cancer vaccine platform that transforms the impact of the largest immunological event in modern history—a synchronized mass immune memory generated through SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination—into a powerful ally against cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-covid-immune-memory-powerful-ally.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:20:02 EDT news704389141 Cancer immunotherapies have transformed treatment for many cancers, but pancreatic cancer remains especially difficult to treat. One major reason is that pancreatic tumors often create a "cold" tumor microenvironment, where the tumor prevents immune cells from mounting a strong attack. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gut-bacteria-pancreatic-cancer.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:40:04 EDT news704381162 As cigarette smoking reaches historic lows in the U.S., new research from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center suggests a fundamental shift in tobacco use is driving that trend. Younger adults are increasingly switching to noncombustible nicotine products, particularly electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-shift-cigarettes-reshape-future-cancer.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:08 EDT news704356901 A research team at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has developed ClairS—a deep-learning algorithm that significantly improves the detection of cancer mutations using long-read sequencing. Tested on breast cancer, lung cancer and melanoma cell line datasets, ClairS has demonstrated high accuracy across various cancer types and sequencing conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-synthetic-tumor-ai-cancer-mutation.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:40:01 EDT news704370481 Cary Gross, MD, professor of medicine (general internal medicine) at Yale School of Medicine, has studied financial conflicts of interest in American medicine for more than 20 years. In a recent systematic review published in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gross and his colleagues examined the prevalence of financial conflicts of interest in cancer research and care in the United States, where cancer care spending exceeds $200 billion per year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-financial-conflicts-cancer.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:20:08 EDT news704363942 Every encounter between a T cell and a potential target—especially when that target is a developing tumor—begins with a rapid series of molecular decisions. Within seconds, the immune cell must determine whether to launch an attack or stand down. T cells are so potent, so potentially devastating, that misreading the situation can cause serious tissue injury. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-decipher-cells-enemies-cancer.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:00:51 EDT news704107608 Scientists have long sought to understand why some people with no known risk factors develop cancer while others with significant risk never do. The answer may lie in immune proteins known as autoantibodies (auto-Abs), suggests a commentary published in Cell co-authored by a team that includes Jean-Laurent Casanova, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense and Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-autoantibodies-cancer-growth-response-immunotherapy.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:00:03 EDT news704030192 Cisplatin is one of the most successful cancer medicines ever developed. Doctors use it to treat many cancers, including lung, ovarian, breast, testicular and head and neck cancers. However, cisplatin has a serious problem. It does not attack only cancer cells. It can also reach healthy organs and damage them. In particular, cisplatin can harm the kidneys and peripheral nerves. Patients receiving cisplatin often experience pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in their hands and feet. These side effects can become so severe that doctors must reduce the dose or stop treatment completely. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pro-version-cisplatin-cancer-power.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 13:40:02 EDT news704107009 Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have developed a new chemical approach that could help make targeted cancer medicines safer and more precise. The discovery gives scientists a new way to design drugs that bind more selectively to cancer-driving proteins while reducing unwanted interactions that can lead to side effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-redesigned-lung-cancer-drug-tumor.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:40:02 EDT news704118542 Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, which reprograms an individual's immune cells to seek out and destroy certain cancer cells, has revolutionized treatment for blood cancers such as lymphoma. But in some patients, the treatment can cause serious side effects. New research led by investigators at the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown that patients' inherited genetic makeup can influence whether they benefit from CAR-T cell therapy or experience toxicity from the treatment. The results are published in Science Immunology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-inherited-gene-variants-car-therapy.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news704024041 Researchers in Korea have developed a new near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye with significantly improved photostability, overcoming the rapid signal fading that has long limited fluorescence imaging during surgery for cancer, lymph node mapping and other medical procedures. The work is published in the journal Small. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-photostable-infrared-fluorescent-dye.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:40:02 EDT news704112841 Scientists at the Institute of Biochemical Sciences at National Taiwan University have uncovered how tiny genetic changes can disable one of the body's most important tumor-suppressing proteins. Their study, published in Nature Communications, reveals how cancer-associated mutations interfere with the function of BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1), a protein that helps maintain normal cell growth and is frequently mutated in cancers such as mesothelioma, uveal melanoma and kidney cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tiny-bap1-mutations-disrupt-internal.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news704112542 When a cancer cell leaves the original tumor to spread to a new, faraway location, it first has to survive what most cells cannot: periodic high-force moments in the vessels and heart of up to 5,000 dynes per centimeter squared as it circulates throughout the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mechanoresistant-cancer-cells-survive-high.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:40:05 EDT news704111821 Antibodies are like "guided missiles" that find and attack cancer cells, but cancer-causing mutations inside cells have remained a "blind spot" for treatment because antibodies cannot reach them. KAIST researchers have now succeeded in precisely targeting intracellular cancer mutations using a newly designed antibody created through computational methods. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-antibodies-eyes-hidden-kras-mutations.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:20:01 EDT news704111581 Researchers have found that a combination of enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab helps patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer live longer while reducing the risk that their cancer will return after surgery, according to an international phase 3 clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-treatment-approach-survival-recurrence-muscle.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:00:05 EDT news704104859