A gene called FOXJ1 may drive resistance to taxane chemotherapy during treatment for advanced prostate cancer, according to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The findings provide important new insights into why patients with metastatic disease often stop responding to a key class of life-prolonging chemotherapy drugs after initially benefiting. Given that taxanes remain the only chemotherapy agents with demonstrated survival benefit in advanced prostate cancer, understanding how and why resistance develops is an urgent need for patients.

Scientists in Japan have developed a new analytical method capable of detecting subtle stereochemical differences that arise when therapeutic antibodies undergo oxidation. These differences, which were previously difficult to observe, can influence the stability and performance of antibody medicines. By integrating advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and stereoselective enzymatic reactions, the researchers achieved atomic-level characterization of oxidative modifications in antibodies. The approach provides a new tool for improving the stability assessment and quality control of biologic drugs.

A new study led by researchers at Adelaide University and published in Science Advances has revealed why some cancers can grow and survive in the body, while others cannot.