EurekAlert! Cancer Research - News Releases

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Jan-2026 02:11 ET (28-Jan-2026 07:11 GMT/UTC)

Plasma-guided mitotane for the treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma: adjuvant care to advanced disease

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mitotane is the only FDA- and EMA-approved drug for adrenocortical carcinoma, acting through disruption of cholesterol metabolism and steroidogenic enzymes. This review summarizes its mechanisms, clinical efficacy, therapeutic drug monitoring, and adverse effect management, emphasizing the importance of the therapeutic window (14–20 mg/L) for optimized clinical outcomes.

Journal: LabMed Discovery

McGill researchers identify a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk

McGill University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An interdisciplinary team including researchers at McGill University has found a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk samples from Canada and South Africa. The chemicals include traces of pesticides, antimicrobials and additives used in plastics and personal-care products. The findings were published across five papers.

Funder: Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Research Chairs

In Memoriam: Brian Leyland-Jones, MB BS, PhD

National Foundation for Cancer Research
Business Announcement

June 20, 1949 – January 2026

The National Foundation for Cancer Research mourns the loss of Dr. Brian Leyland-Jones, a leading figure in global cancer research, a tireless patient advocate, and a cherished member of the NFCR family for more than two decades.

To fight cancer, scientists customize cellular protein

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Precise methods for shredding or repairing and replacing specific cancer-causing proteins in a malignant cell, developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, could have applications beyond cancer to a wide range of immunological diseases, members of the interdisciplinary research team say. The work was published recently in the Journal of the American Cancer Society.

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society

Targeted therapy shows promise against aggressive brain tumors, alliance trial finds

Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A national clinical trial led by the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology has found that abemaciclib, an oral cancer drug, may slow tumor growth in patients with aggressive meningiomas that have specific genetic mutations. This primary analysis of Alliance A071401 is published in Nature Medicine.

Journal: Nature Medicine
Funder: NIH/National Cancer Institute, National Clinical Trials Network, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Alexandra Dane

Immunotherapy success could be predicted with new biomarkers

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists pinpoint two cancer genes that when deleted, improve the vulnerability of tumour cells to immunotherapy.

Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Five-year absolute risk–based and age-based breast cancer screening in the US

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this decision analytical modeling study of breast cancer screening, population risk-based screening using 5-year invasive breast cancer risk was associated with similar or greater benefits than age-based screening as well as reduced false-positive recalls. As personalized medicine advances, risk-based screening is poised to become a cornerstone of breast cancer prevention, offering a more nuanced and tailored approach to patient care.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Sniffing out cancer: Trained dogs can detect hemangiosarcoma by scent

University of Pennsylvania
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Research by veterinarian Cynthia M. Otto, Clara Wilson, and colleagues at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center shows that trained dogs can identify the odor of hemangiosarcoma, a devastating canine cancer, offering the hope of a better screening tool and more effective treatments. “If we can detect it early, maybe we could prevent it from spreading, because it’s the spread that’s really devastating,” says Otto.

Journal: The Veterinary Journal
Funder: American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, Morris Animal Foundation, Golden Retriever Foundation, Irish Setter Club of America Foundation, Labrador Retriever Club, Inc., Scottish Terrier Club of America, Vizsla Club of America Welfare Foundation, American German Shepherd Charitable Foundation, Rookie Fund

MSK Research Highlights, January 20, 2026

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) sheds new light on how the gut protects itself by sensing gut bacteria; finds a subtype of glioma-associated macrophages that appear to play a pivotal role in progression; and demonstrates that reduced surgery is an option for some thyroid cancer patients.

Novel therapy using engineered immune cells to kill prostate cancer earns $1.8 million Department of Defense grant

Virginia Commonwealth University
Grant and Award Announcement

Researchers at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) were recently awarded a $1.8 million, 3-year grant from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to study the implications of using a modified enhanced therapeutic version of melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/Interleukin-24, IL-24 ‘Superkine’ (IL-24S) delivered by immune (natural killer) cells to fight advanced prostate cancer.

This DoD Grant will allow the investigative teams of Drs. Paul B. Fisher and Swadesh K. Das to take the next step in IL-24S research, which has already shown remarkable efficacy when delivered by a therapeutic adenovirus against brain (glioblastoma) cancers, by delivery through enhanced engineered natural killer (NK) cells. IL-24S is a genetically engineered version of IL-24 that targets and kills cancer cells while sparing normal ones.

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