Researchers have discovered a protein system that helps explain why some colorectal cancer patients don’t respond to chemotherapy, offering hope for more effective and personalized treatments. The team found that tumors often rely on the cystine/glutamate transporter (Xc-) to survive stress and resist cell death. When this system was blocked in lab models, the cancer became more sensitive to treatment. Importantly, the scientists also identified a unique protein “signature” that could predict which patients are likely to resist standard therapies, paving the way for doctors to tailor treatments more precisely. Beyond colorectal cancer, the findings may also shed light on other cancers and even neurological conditions, making this a promising step toward smarter, more targeted medicine.

Patients with an aggressive form of breast cancer who are not candidates for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy showed significantly improved progression-free survival when treated with the antibody drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan compared to standard chemotherapy. These findings, which stem from the ASCENT-03 trial in triple-negative breast cancer co-led by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, are presented today at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 in Berlin, Germany. They are also published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A new Science Advances study by the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) shows that pursuing net-zero climate policies and avoiding temporary overshoot of the 1.5°C temperature limit could prevent 207,000 premature deaths and save $2,269 billion USD in economic damages by 2030 by improving air quality. The research highlights that ambitious climate action not only limits global warming but also delivers immediate health and economic co-benefits, providing strong evidence for the importance of stringent mitigation policies worldwide.