Fox Chase researchers developed a new tool that helps clinicians understand whether the tissue surrounding a pancreatic tumor is helping fight the cancer or allowing it to grow. In the lab, the team found that a specialized form of radiation treatment can change the tumor environment to potentially work against the cancer.

Human tumor organoids have advanced cancer modeling by preserving patient-specific heterogeneity and functional drug responses. However, translating organoid findings into routine decision-making remains challenging due to variability in culture conditions and incomplete reconstruction of the tumor microenvironment. In this review, we present a clear and actionable framework that positions tumor organoids as dynamic living biosensors, linking mechanistic studies, tumor microenvironment reconstruction, functional drug-response phenotyping, and precision-therapy decision-making.

A study by IRB Barcelona reveals that transfer RNA (tRNA) genes accumulate mutations at a frequency up to nine times higher than average.    These mutations specifically target the region that "reads" codons, potentially creating "chimeric" tRNAs that introduce systematic errors during protein synthesis.  The study reports that these mutations accumulate with age, opening a new door to understanding the decline in protein quality and frailty in the elderly.

Researchers at the International Laboratory of Microphysiological Systems of the HSE Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology investigated how different isoforms of the same microRNA influence gene function in prostate adenocarcinoma. The study found that in some cases, microRNAs can reinforce each other’s effects by targeting and suppressing the same genes. This finding offers a fresh perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying tumour development and on the search for disease biomarkers. The results have been published in PeerJ.