Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers. One reason for its resistance to therapy is the dense tissue surrounding the tumor, which acts as a protective barrier and suppresses the immune response. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now identified a molecular mechanism that regulates this tumor-supporting environment. At the heart of this mechanism is CD44, a molecule that controls the behavior of cancer-associated fibroblasts, specialized connective tissue cells that play a crucial role in shaping the tumor microenvironment.The results have been published in Cell Death & Disease (DOI: 10.1038/s41419-026-09155-5).

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) could prevent around a quarter of all cases of invasive breast cancer detected between two routine screening examinations. In the first year following a normal screening result, the rate of so-called invasive interval cancers was 29% lower than with digital mammography. These findings are from TOSYMA, the largest comparative study of its kind worldwide to date. The findings were published in the journal The Lancet Oncology by a research team from the University of Münster and the University Hospital Münster (UKM) in collaboration with other partners.

What if we could use a cancer’s own byproduct to make drugs that destroy tumor cells from the inside? That is exactly what researchers at the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute (PRI) in Japan have done. The proof-of-concept study describes how a synthetically designed compound uses the excess carbon monoxide produced in tumor cells to trigger the production of anti-cancer drugs within the cells themselves. Treatment methods based on this technique would be ideal as it selectively targets tumors and avoids harming healthy cells.