CSHL Professor David Spector and graduate student Disha Aggarwal have tracked levels of long non-coding RNA MALAT1 over the course of one woman’s experience with triple-negative breast cancer. Their findings could help inform clinical trials of a drug targeting MALAT1. They also suggest MALAT1 may play a role in determining whether and where the cancer will spread.

A hormone produced in the thyroid gland can play a key role in the development of prostate cancer. This is shown in a new study by an international research group led by Umeå University, Sweden, and the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. By blocking a receptor for the hormone, the growth of tumour cells in the prostate was inhibited. In the long term, the discovery may open up a new way of attacking certain types of aggressive prostate cancer.

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly integrated into oncology care, but their ability to maintain accurate performance over time remains poorly understood. A new study evaluates the temporal evolution of three leading LLMs—ChatGPT-3.5, ChatGPT-4, and Gemini—using 614 oncology-related questions (223 subjective, 391 multiple-choice) from 23 studies. Results show ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 exhibit declining accuracy over time, while Gemini demonstrates significant improvement. Notably, ChatGPT-3.5’s performance on subjective questions shifted from superior to inferior relative to original queries between March and April 2023, with the gap widening. These findings highlight the critical need for ongoing monitoring of LLMs in clinical oncology settings to ensure reliable, up-to-date support for healthcare professionals and patients.

Clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats(CRISPR) gene editing, known for its precision, is revolutionizing tumor research and treatment. This article covers the evolution of the CRISPR system from Cas9, which produces DNA double-strand breaks, to Cas12, Cas13, base editors, and prime editors. These breakthroughs allow DNA/RNA editing, transcriptional regulation, and epigenetic reprogramming. The study encompasses CRISPR's diverse applications in tumor research, including high-throughput screening of cancer driver genes, identification of synthetic lethal targets, and analysis of drug resistance pathways across various cancer types. It highlights CRISPR's importance in therapeutic tactics, such as targeting oncogene inactivation, restoring tumor suppressor gene activity, and engineering immune effector cells like CAR-T and NK cells to increase persistence, cytotoxicity, and resistance to exhaustion. This review also examines CRISPR's role in modifying the tumor microenvironment(TME), encompassing the regulation of immune checkpoints, metabolic reprogramming, and the targeted eradication of specific immunosuppressive cells. Off-target consequences for both delivery and efficiency are discussed, along with cutting-edge technologies including high-fidelity Cas variants, AI-assisted sgRNA design, and stimuli-responsive delivery systems. Finally, the paper examines how CRISPR can be integrated with combination medicines, multimodal editing methods, and single-cell and multi-omics data to deliver tailored, precision-based interventions. This review explains the molecular logic and translational routes of CRISPR, highlighting its promise to revolutionize precision oncology.