About the Study: In this case-control study with prospective follow-up of patients with CRC, the obesity paradox appeared to be largely attributable to prediagnostic cancer-associated weight loss. The apparent survival advantage associated with overweight and obesity at diagnosis should not be interpreted as evidence to encourage weight gain for patients with healthy weight or to revise existing survivorship recommendations.

Lanzhou University (Lanzhou, China) announced that a research team led by Professor Quanyi Zhao and Dian He of the Institute of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Medical Laboratory Center of Lanzhou University, has designed and synthesized a new series of derivatives of glycyrrhizin — the principal bioactive compound extracted from licorice root, one of the most widely used botanicals in traditional Chinese medicine. The lead compound, designated compound 23, suppresses colorectal cancer through a dual mechanism: directly killing cancer cells while simultaneously calming the chronic inflammation in the tumor microenvironment that fuels tumor growth, metastasis, and immune evasion.

Researchers from Insilico Medicine, the University of Copenhagen, and international academic partners have identified NDRG1 as a previously unrecognized regulator of DNA damage repair and a potential therapeutic vulnerability in genetically defined cancers. Published in Science Signaling, the study combined AI-assisted transcriptomic analysis, high-content genetic screening, molecular biology, patient survival data, and profiling across more than 130 cancer cell lines. The researchers found that the antimalarial drug quinacrine disrupts the interaction between NDRG1 and VCP, impairing the recruitment of proteins required for effective DNA repair. Colorectal cancer cells carrying mutations in the DNA repair–associated genes MLH1 or PARP3 were particularly sensitive to quinacrine treatment or NDRG1 knockdown, indicating a potential synthetic lethal relationship. Although quinacrine was used as an experimental tool compound, the findings provide a foundation for developing more selective therapies targeting the NDRG1 pathway in cancers with specific DNA repair deficiencies.

Cedars-Sinai studies reveal how dopamine vesicles inform Parkinson's, how blood tests could track colon cancer and how gut gas drives IBS symptoms.

A research project funded by NIH has generated one of the most extensive and diverse collections of patient-derived tumor models. Tumor tissue from hundreds of cancer patients contributed to the compendium of tumor models that will enhance the study of tumor biology and be an asset in accelerating the development of cancer therapies while guiding future research directions.