Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rapidly progressing and often fatal malignancy shaped profoundly by the hypoxic microenvironment that develops as tumors expand. Hypoxia is known to trigger widespread transcriptional and metabolic changes that enhance tumor aggressiveness, yet the upstream epigenetic mechanisms coordinating these alterations remain insufficiently understood

In research that could shed light on the growth and formation of complex tissue architectures, Brown University engineers show how cells orbit and reconfigure their surroundings to venture outward from confined spheroids.

A new paper examines how close each state is to reaching the goal of cervical cancer elimination. While Massachusetts is close to elimination, the Southeast and Southwest regions have rates of cervical cancer that are double the elimination goal. 

City of Hope has opened a phase 2 clinical trial comparing three different strategies for protecting heart health in prostate cancer patients who receive androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a potentially lifesaving hormone therapy. Prostate cancer patients who receive ADT are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and other heart and blood vessel problems. This may be due to treatment-related metabolic changes that can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance and an increase in body fat. The trial will compare three approaches: intermittent fasting with a 16-hour fasting window, an anti-obesity medication targeting the body’s natural glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) signaling pathway and the American Heart Association’s  Life’s Essential 8 guidelines.

New study shows that aggressive cancer cells can be identified in a simple, new way; by how they physically behave, not just by their genes. Using specially textured Meta surfaces pattered with tiny immobilized particles, the researchers found that aggressive cancer cells grip more strongly, swallow more particles, and change shape in ways that less aggressive cells do not, differences that standard flat lab tests completely miss. This matters because it offers a fast, label-free and potentially low-cost method to distinguish aggressive cancer cells, improves our understanding of how cancer spreads, and opens the door to new diagnostic and research tools that could better predict which cancers are most likely to metastasize.

Lymphatic Drug Delivery System (LDDS) is an emerging type of cancer treatment, but its efficacy depends on how efficiently the drugs reach the lymphatic system. A research team from Tohoku University has clarified how the physical and chemical features of medicines affect how they move through the lymphatic and blood systems, helping to advance the clinical development of LDDS.