A team of researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany report that newly developed photo-activated nanoparticles effectively kill metastatic cancer cells. The investigators also devise a way to labeled the nanoparticles in such a way that immune cells learn to eliminate similar cells throughout the body which could even mean undetected…

New research among patients with cancer indicates differing immune responses to COVID-19 vaccination with an mRNA vaccine (Moderna’s mRNA-1273). The findings from the Moffitt Cancer Center also revealed variable antibody responses differing by cancer diagnosis and treatment. A paper summarizing their findings is published in JAMA Oncology. “The good news…

Research by Georgetown University researchers reveals that less than 20% of the cells in an aggressive tumor are responsible for the cancer spreading to other parts of the body and becoming metastatic. The researchers, based at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, think this is why these ‘enabler’ cells might be…

Metastatic cancer is more often a deadlier form of the disease than the original tumor itself and researchers continue to study the underlying mechanisms behind metastasis to better understand disease progression. Now, using a mouse model of pancreatic cancer, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine report…

Tracing and predicting the course that metastatic cancers take through the body may shed light on cellular changes that lead to metastasis. Metastatic disease causes about 90% of cancer deaths from solid tumors—masses of cells that grow in organs such as the breast, prostate, or colon. Understanding the drivers of…

Huntsman Cancer Institute researchers have shown that less than a third of patients with metastatic prostate cancer or advanced urothelial carcinoma undergo next-generation sequencing (NGS), even though these tumors may have mutations that could be used to guide treatment. The NGS rates have increased over time, but were lower among…

Drexel University College of Medicine investigators have discovered two drug-like molecules that show early promise to shrink brain tumors caused by metastatic breast cancer. Their research in a mouse model, published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, represents the first successful attempt to target a key metabolic enzyme in brain…

Researchers at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Belgium, have developed a novel liquid biopsy methodology that enables the monitoring of disease evolution in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The study, published in Cancer Cell, leverages the RNA contained in extracellular vesicles shed by tumor cells into the…

In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers have made groundbreaking discoveries about the pre-metastatic environment in the liver in the context of pancreatic cancer. Their findings reveal potential new strategies for monitoring and treating patients with the disease, and provide insights into the prognosis for metastases. The idea of…

Needle biopsy is indispensable to the diagnosis, typing, and targeted treatment of breast cancer. A new study, however, indicates that the testing itself triggers a series of cell-level changes that promote the spread of the disease months later. The results are the first of their kind to suggest a mechanism…

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have shown that fusion RNAs are more common than previously thought in people with metastatic breast cancer and could potentially be targeted with drugs that are already available. “The implication of our findings is that fusion…

New research led by Penn State researchers has shown, for the first time, the mechanics of how breast cancer cells invade healthy tissues and lead to metastatic disease. The findings, published in the journal Advanced Science, demonstrates that the motor protein dynein was critical in driving the movement of cancer…

City of Hope researchers have identified four metabolism-related biomarkers that may be associated with an increased risk for metastatic prostate cancer in men of West African heritage and could one day be incorporated into a disease prediction tool for this high-risk population. “We hope that our findings can become part…

A new study suggests an already approved drug, denosumab (Amgen’s Prolia/Xgeva), could work in combination with standard care to improve outcomes in metastatic cases of the most common type of breast cancer. RANK ligand inhibition, their research suggests, could make patients with luminal breast cancer less resistant to standard care.…

A new clinical study shows that surgery alone is just as effective, yet safer than chemotherapy or radiation treatments in the long-term, for patients with early-stage seminoma, a type of testicular cancer. Seminoma is a slow-growing form of testicular cancer that, if untreated, usually spreads to lymph nodes in an…