Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have shown for the first time that a type of human papillomavirus (HPV) commonly found on the skin can directly cause a form of skin cancer called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) when certain immune cells malfunction. cSCC is one of the most common cancers in the United States and worldwide. Previously, scientists believed HPV merely facilitated the accumulation of DNA mutations caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually the primary driver of cSCC. The findings were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

When a cheeseburger costs less than a punnet of strawberries, it’s clear the odds are stacked against healthy choices – especially for teenagers. Now, new research from the University of South Australia shows that it’s not just unhealthy eating habits affecting teens, but an alarming clustering of poor lifestyle choices that’s putting the majority of teenagers at serious risk of preventable diseases later in life.

In a paper published in MedComm – Future Medicine, a Chinese research team presents ImmunoCheckDB, a comprehensive web platform integrating meta-analysis and multiomic data to discover cancer immunotherapy biomarkers. The platform curates 173 studies on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies, covering survival outcomes for 93,234 individuals across 18 cancer types and 30 ICI regimens, enabling pan-cancer exploration of molecular markers for ICI efficacy.