A first-of-its-kind study, led by LaShae Rolle, a 27 y/o breast cancer researcher, survivor and elite powerlifter, challenges the long-held belief that cancer patients should stick to low- or moderate exercise and suggests that with individualized and symptom-informed exercise planning, even powerlifting can be safe and beneficial.

Specific way genetic material is organized in cells determines its ability to adapt to resist treatment. Scientists modulated this organization with an FDA-approved drug on the market. Strategy prevented cancer cells from adapting, making chemotherapy more effective in lab cultures and animal models of human cancer.

A group of University of Ottawa researchers have already shown how scientists can harness gene therapies to deliver nano-sized treatments for cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases. Unfortunately, the delivery agents in the process do not possess any therapeutic potential and ultimately degrade after acting as the messenger. So, the researchers asked: can we not develop nanoparticle platforms to be more than just mules? 

A molecular pathway used by pancreatic cancer cells to adapt to stress and inflammation could lead to earlier detection and treatment of the deadly disease.

A promising breakthrough in cancer treatment is taking shape at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), where scientists are developing a powerful radioisotope that could one day precisely target and destroy cancer cells. A recent study led by Heather Hennkens, an associate professor at Mizzou’s Department of Chemistry and a researcher at MURR, investigated how to produce, purify and formulate Terbium-161 for radiopharmaceutical use. Through this work, Hennkens’ lab is optimizing the radioisotope so it can be effectively attached to a targeting molecule and sent as the therapeutic “payload” to destroy tumor cells.

Colon cancer is often driven by cancer stem cells, which resist treatment and lead to relapse. In a recent study, researchers from Japan revealed how transcription factors CDX1 and CDX2 suppress cancer cell stemness by blocking β-catenin’s ability to activate key genes like LGR5. Their findings showed that CDX1/2 prevent the formation of key transcriptional complexes involving DSIF and PAF1, identifying these as critical regulators and potential therapeutic targets in colon cancer.