World-leading experts have launched an online platform to enable the public to shape the future of bowel cancer research and patient care. 

Medical reports written in technical terminology can pose challenges for patients. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has investigated how artificial intelligence can make CT findings easier to understand. In the study, reading time decreased, and patients rated the automatically simplified texts as more comprehensible and more helpful.

A research team led by Professor Eijiro Miyako at the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), has discovered that the marine bacterium Photobacterium angustum demonstrates remarkable therapeutic efficacy against colorectal cancer.

Through screening of multiple marine bacterial strains, the researchers found that P. angustum, in its natural, non-engineered form, selectively accumulates in tumor tissues and induces both direct tumor lysis and robust immune activation. In mouse models, intravenously administered P. angustum showed high tumor tropism while exhibiting minimal colonization of vital organs except the liver, with no hematological abnormalities or histological toxicity observed.

Furthermore, P. angustum therapy promoted intratumoral infiltration of immune cells including T cells, B cells, and neutrophils, and enhanced production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). The bacterium also demonstrated intrinsic oncolytic activity through natural exotoxin production, directly destroying cancer cells. These combined mechanisms significantly prolonged survival in treated mice, with complete remission achieved in some cases.

This research represents a critical advance toward developing safer, more biocompatible cancer immunotherapies that do not rely on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The study has been accepted for publication in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, a leading international journal in the field of cancer immunotherapy.