Metastasis remains the deadliest cancer complication, driven by circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that evade immune defenses in the bloodstream. A new review by scientists of China explores how CTCs interact with platelets, immune cells, and molecular pathways to survive, highlighting emerging therapeutic strategies and the evolving role of CTCs in liquid biopsy and metastasis prevention. The findings offer promising directions for advancing cancer diagnostics and anti-metastatic treatments.

A new study led by the University of Oxford has revealed that reptiles confined to islands are facing a double jeopardy. Despite being more likely to go extinct than mainland species, they remain largely ignored by researchers compared to their mainland counterparts.

Study reveals how sugar-protein interactions are critical for the placenta during early pregnancy, shedding light on complications like preeclampsia and restricted fetal growth.  

Summary

Researchers at EMBL-EBI and collaborators have developed SPRTA, a new way to measure confidence in evolutionary family trees at a pandemic scale. 

SPRTA allows scientists to quickly identify which parts of these trees are reliable, where uncertainty remains, and what could be alternative evolutionary histories.

By helping to track how pathogens spread and evolve, SPRTA could improve responses to future pandemics.