Lung cancer patients who have never smoked make up a significant and growing share of global lung cancer cases, yet remain an understudied group, according to a new review written by UCL (University College London) researchers.

A team led by investigators at Mass General Brigham and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown that a single injection of an oncolytic virus—a genetically modified virus that selectively infects and destroys cancer cells—can recruit immune cells to penetrate and persist deep within brain tumors. The research, which is published in Cell, provides details on how this therapy prolonged survival in patients with glioblastoma, the most common and malignant primary brain tumor, in a recent clinical trial.

(Boston)—Throughout a person’s lifetime, the cells lining the respiratory tract are exposed to inhaled pollutants, including cigarette smoke. These exposures can cause molecular changes that disrupt normal cell behavior, leading to abnormal growth and function. Over time, these airway abnormalities—called bronchial premalignant lesions—can progress to a type of non-small cell lung cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma.

In a new study from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, researchers have identified a microRNA (miRNA)—a small non-coding RNA that can suppress gene expression—that is overexpressed in lesions that progress in severity. This miRNA reduces the expression of genes involved in immune recognition, potentially enabling abnormal cells to evade detection by the immune system.