Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat, in large part because tumors do not exist in isolation. Instead, they are surrounded by a dense and complex network of blood vessels, connective tissue, and immune cells that shape how the disease grows and responds to therapy.

In a recent study led by Faraz Bishehsari, MD, PhD, professor and Atilla Ertan Chair in Gastroenterology Research, researchers developed a “tumor-on-a-chip” system designed to recreate that environment outside the human body, offering a more realistic way to study the disease and evaluate treatments.

Nerve fibers within melanomas can slow the growth of these tumors, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings help clarify the emerging field of cancer neuroscience and may inform future therapeutic strategies.

Every cell in the human body squeezes over six feet of DNA into a miniscule speck invisible to the naked eye—like compressing a whole house into a single sugar cube. In order to fit in a cell and remain organized, DNA is carefully wrapped around spool-like protein clusters called nucleosomes. For decades, the prevailing view held that DNA is coiled so tightly around a nucleosome that it’s basically locked away and the cell can’t access it. Scientists believed only unwrapped DNA could be active. Now, a study from Gladstone Institutes and the Arc Institute challenges that black-and-white view. Using a new AI-powered computational method, scientists discovered that most nucleosomes contain sections of DNA that are partially accessible to the cell, rather than fully wound up and packed away. The findings, published in the journal Nature, point to a previously unrecognized way that cells control their genes.

In a study published today in Nature, a University of Pittsburgh team found that eating creates a temporary metabolic state that influences the function of T cells –  immune cells that help the body detect and fight infection and disease, including cancer. In experiments in mice and humans, T cells collected after a meal showed a metabolic and functional advantage over those collected after fasting. The findings suggest that eating can have a lasting effect on how immune cells respond when they are activated –  a factor that could be relevant for T cell–based immunotherapies, such as CAR‑T cell therapy, as well as for responses to infection.

A peptide that successfully targeted and killed metastatic cancer cells in mice may open the door to developing more efficient ways to detect and treat metastatic breast cancer in humans, UTHealth Houston researchers have discovered.