EurekAlert! Cancer Research

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Jan-2026 06:11 ET (8-Jan-2026 11:11 GMT/UTC)

8-Jan-2026

Researchers find promising new way to boost the immune response to cancer

University of Southampton
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a promising new way to bolster the body’s immune system response to cancer.

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers used specially engineered multi-pronged antibodies to better activate cancer-killing T cells.

The antibodies work by ‘grabbing’ and ‘clustering’ multiple immune cell receptors – boosting the signal which tells the T cell to attack the cancer.

Journal: Nature Communications

7-Jan-2026

Higher intake of food preservatives linked to increased cancer risk

BMJ Group
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Higher intake of food preservatives, widely used in industrially processed foods and beverages to extend shelf-life, is associated with a modestly increased risk of cancer, finds a study from France published by The BMJ today.

Journal: The BMJ
Funder: European Research Council, French National Cancer Institute, French Ministry of Health, IdEx Université de Paris, Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation

7-Jan-2026

One in 14 patients having day case surgery have new or worse chronic pain 3 months after their operation

AAGBI
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Two new studies published in Anaesthesia (the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) analysing pain and other factors connected with day surgery in the UK show that around 1 in 8 patients having day-case surgery end up not going home and instead are admitted to hospital for various complications. Furthermore, one in 14 go on to develop chronic pain at the operative site after the procedure.

Journal: Anaesthesia

7-Jan-2026

Microbes in breast milk help populate infant gut microbiomes

University of Chicago Medical Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study in Nature Communications doubles the number of publicly available metagenomic breast milk samples and shows how different combinations of bacteria in human milk contribute to the assembly of infants’ gut microbiomes.

Journal: Nature Communications

7-Jan-2026

New Mayo Clinic study advances personalized prostate cancer education with an EHR-integrated AI agent

Mayo Clinic
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed and evaluated MedEduChat, an electronic health record (EHR) that works with a large language model to provide accurate, patient-specific prostate cancer education.

Journal: npj Digital Medicine

7-Jan-2026

Artificial saliva containing sugarcane protein helps protect the teeth of patients with head and neck cancer

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy, applying radiation very close to the mouth can destroy some salivary glands and compromise saliva production, which is essential for controlling bacteria and disease

Journal: Journal of Dentistry
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

7-Jan-2026

High levels of protein drive tumor immune suppression in head and neck cancer

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

BATF2 is a new type of tumor suppressor that can be epigenetically silenced by high levels of glutamine in the tumor microenvironment

Glutamine silences BATF2 and leads to a weakened immune response

Blocking glutamine reverses these effects, increasing BATF2 expression and improving overall immunity

7-Jan-2026

Advances in liquid biopsies as a tool for detecting lung cancer mutations

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers used a panel to assess the presence of circulating tumor DNA in plasma samples and detected changes in genes related to the development of adenocarcinoma that indicated both actionability by drugs and resistance to treatment.

Journal: Molecular Oncology
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

7-Jan-2026

Cornell-developed particles supercharge cancer immunotherapy

Weill Cornell Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A class of ultrasmall fluorescent core-shell silica nanoparticles developed at Cornell is showing an unexpected ability to rally the immune system against melanoma and dramatically improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Engineering researchers.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology

7-Jan-2026

Researchers raise concerns about faster aging, possible early-onset dementia, for children and young adult cancer survivors

University of Rochester Medical Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors age faster than their peers who did not have cancer, according to a new study, which also describes how accelerated aging occurs both at the cellular level and in brain function, such as memory, attention, and ability to process information.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: NIH/National Cancer Institute