Previously, research on controlling gene networks has been carried out based on a single stimulus-response of cells. More recently, studies have been proposed to precisely analyze complex gene networks to identify control targets. A KAIST research team has succeeded in developing a universal technology that identifies gene control targets in altered cellular gene networks and restores them. This achievement is expected to be widely applied to new anticancer therapies such as cancer reversibility, drug development, precision medicine, and reprogramming for cell therapy.

Cancer cells provide healthy neighbouring cells with additional cell powerhouses to put them to work. This has been demonstrated by researchers at ETH Zurich in a new study. In this way, cancer is exploiting a mechanism that frequently serves to repair damaged cells.

A research team led by Prof. GU Hongcang and ZHANG Fan from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has identified a novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-driven regulatory network that plays a central role in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and immune response. 

Nearly 20 years ago, a man named Timothy Ray Brown who was living with HIV and cancer, underwent two courses of stem cell transplantation to treat his acute myeloid leukemia. By using donor cells that lacked a key molecule needed for HIV to enter and infect immune cells, the procedures not only led to remission of his cancer, but also cured him of HIV.

Many modern cancer treatments are highly effective at reducing or eliminating tumors, but they can also cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms that impact patients’ quality of life or lead to discontinuation of treatment. A new analysis from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers reveals the nutrition therapies that are most effective at minimizing GI distress. 

Researchers have reported results from the first-ever clinical trial of a new class of targeted therapy in pet cats with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)—a cancer which is notoriously deadly and difficult to treat. Publishing in the Cell Press journal Cancer Cell on August 28, the study found that 35% of the cats who received treatment had their disease controlled with minimal side effects—and the drug will likely be effective for humans with HNSCC as well.