Research spotlight: Insights into palliative care for patients with cancer
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-Nov-2025 00:11 ET (6-Nov-2025 05:11 GMT/UTC)
Isaac Chua, MD, MPH, of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is the lead author of a paper published in JAMA Network Open, “Changes in Palliative Care Specialist Use among Medicare Decedents with Poor Prognosis Malignancies .”
Immunotherapy has shown tremendous potential in cancer treatment but remains ineffective for most patients. Researchers continue to develop new therapeutic strategies to enhance both the safety and treatment efficacy of immunotherapy. A commentary authored by the group of Bo Xiao and Chenghui Wang at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China introduces a new strategy combining systemic type I interferons (IFN-I) with topical Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) agonists to enhance the antitumor effect of PD-1 antibodies. The commentary, titled “Systemic IFN-I Synergizes with Topical TLR7/8 Agonists to Suppress Metastatic Tumors,” was published in Research.
A virus that typically infects black-eyed peas is showing great promise as a low-cost, potent cancer immunotherapy—and researchers are uncovering why.
A new paper provides evidence of how PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” correspond to epigenetic changes that can lead to cancers, neurological disorders and autoimmune conditions.
A new class of PRMT5 inhibitors, designed to exploit a genetic vulnerability in aggressive tumors, works even better when paired with MAPK pathway drugs—wiping out hard-to-treat lung, brain, and pancreatic cancers in preclinical models, according to Virginia Tech scientists.
A new study led by Stephen D. Nimer, M.D.,director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, shows how a key molecule regulates the generation of new blood cells, a process called hematopoiesis that goes awry in cancer. The findings have the potential to lead to new therapeutic strategies targeting the molecule, a regulator of gene activity called TAF1.
Preoperative delay when treating breast cancer confers poorer outcomes, but growth rates and the upstaging likelihoods per delay interval remain unknown. This study evaluated upstaging risk, nodal spread, and tumor growth rates in vivo while awaiting treatment.