Scientists have developed a strategy to boost the cancer-fighting power of natural killer (NK) cells, part of the immune system’s first line of defence. NK cells can detect and destroy cancer cells, but tumours often create a protective barrier that blocks them, allowing cancer to grow.

Researchers at McGill University’s Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, in collaboration with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, found that suppressing two specific proteins helps NK cells overcome this blockage, turning them into more potent cancer killers.

For the first time, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have demonstrated that Hodgkin lymphoma cancer cells from patient samples are immune cells stuck in an “identity crisis.” Normally, a B cell matures into a plasma cell that produces antibodies to fight infection, but in this case, the cells are trapped partway through the transition. They switch off key B cell features but never fully mature into functional plasma cells, instead surviving as malignant Hodgkin lymphoma cells, also called Reed-Sternberg cells.

Researchers have discovered that a key protein, cFLIP, is essential for regulating programmed cell death in lymphoma cells. This discovery provides insights into the mechanisms of this cancer’s cell death evasion and could open up new therapeutic routes for patients who do not respond to therapies / publication in “Blood”

Researchers use advanced microscopy to visualise multiple biomolecules inside the nucleus of a cancer cell simultaneously at incredibly high resolution, providing one of the first detailed maps of nuclear organisation.

A new set of drugs exploit a recently-revealed weakness in ‘zombie-like’ – or senescent – cells that could lead to new treatments for cancer and age-associated diseases. The study from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London shows that senescent cells walk a tightrope, risking cell death with high levels of iron and other damaging agents but compensating for this by overproducing a protective protein that staves off death. Targeting this defence mechanism removes their shield and could be used to treat senescence-associated diseases, including cancer. This approach could complement existing treatments to bring much-needed improvements for cancer patients.

How do we move from biomarkers to clinical decisions in solid tumors? And how is neoadjuvant immunotherapy reshaping rectal cancer care? These are the questions driving our 6th Youth Scholar Salon — an open, live-streamed academic forum held by LabMed Discovery editorial team.

 

Speaker 1: Dr. Yang Zhengyang will present “Clinical Evidence Accumulation and Standardized Practice of Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Rectal Cancer — From Evidence to Guidelines”, from four perspectives: background and challenges, clinical efficacy validation, mechanism exploration, and evidence integration for guidelines.

 

Speaker 2: Dr. Cheng Xi will share “From Biomarkers to Clinical Decision-Making: Construction of a Predictive System for Targeted Therapy Sensitivity in Solid Tumors”, covering three parts: the research advantages of surgeons, mechanistic insights into anlotinib, preliminary study of anlotinib in CRC application.

 

Open to all, no prior knowledge needed. Just bring your curiosity. Hope to see you there

While the ketogenic diet has emerged as a promising nutritional intervention in cancer therapy, the core signaling pathway through which ketone body signals are sensed remains elusive. Concurrently, the mTORC1 pathway is a well-established central hub for sensing nutrients and energy, and whether and how this pathway senses and responds to ketone body signals had not been clearly defined.

Results from a pilot study of 100 exclusively breastfeeding women suggest that maternal dairy intake is associated with decreased concentrations of numerous human milk lipids. Findings from the study will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 Meeting, taking place April 24-27 in Boston.

Researchers at Tohoku University have discovered hidden genetic damage that has been overlooked for decades, which could lead to more accurate research on aging and diseases like cancer. This groundbreaking discovery opens the door to more reliable technologies for working with DNA in the future.