Memorial Sloan Kettering scientists are shedding new light on a tumor’s earliest moments — revealing how lung cells with cancer-causing mutations recruit accomplices from healthy surrounding tissue to pave the way for a tumor to develop.

BUFFALO, NY — April 22, 2026 — A new case report was published in Volume 13 of Oncoscience on March 11, 2026, titled “Deceptive clinical course of mucinous ovarian carcinoma mimicking pelvic abscess in a postmenopausal woman: An exceptional case report.”

In the past decade, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have dramatically changed cancer treatment, significantly improving outcomes for patients with various malignancies. Nonetheless, their widespread application has resulted in a rise in immune-related adverse events due to excessive immune activation, including immune-mediated hepatotoxicity (IMH). IMH can cause serious complications and even death, underscoring the need for early prediction and intervention. This review outlines the current understanding of risk factors and predictive biomarkers for IMH in cancer patients undergoing ICI therapy, with risk factors divided into patient-associated, tumor-associated, and agent-associated categories. Higher IMH risk is related to female sex, younger age, extreme BMI, Asian ethnicity, and chronic liver disease. Cancer type, prior ICI treatment, dual ICI combination therapy, and the concurrent use of chemotherapy, targeted agents, or other hepatotoxic drugs (e.g., acetaminophen, statins) also increase the risk of IMH. Potential predictive biomarkers encompass circulating blood cells, serum proteins, autoantibodies, cytokines, gene profiles, and the gut microbiome. Despite promising findings, the predictive value of these biomarkers remains inconsistent, and no definitive biomarker has been established for routine clinical use. Large-scale prospective studies are essential to verify the predictive value of these biomarkers and facilitate their integration into clinical practice, thereby providing deeper insights into the early identification and individualized management of IMH during ICI therapy.

• Cells constantly search for physical cues that guide their behavior yet respond biochemically.

How a cell converts mechanical information into a molecular process is a long-standing mystery of cell biology. By creating the first snapshot of a mechanical signaling complex in action, researchers have illuminated the steps between physical force and chemical response. The findings may illuminate disorders connected to myosin dysfunction, including cancers such as glioblastoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with limited curative options. Tumor vaccines activate the immune system against malignant cells and represent a promising approach. Multiple platforms – peptide, dendritic cell (DC), nucleic acid (DNA/mRNA), and viral vector – have been explored. Peptide and DC vaccines have the most clinical data, showing safety and immunogenicity. Personalized neoantigen vaccines are refining precision. Major challenges include an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, heterogeneity, immune evasion, and weak immunogenicity. Advances in sequencing, nanotechnology, and AI are opening new avenues. Combinations with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), chemotherapy, or locoregional treatments are under active investigation. Vaccine‑based immunotherapy for HCC is still early but holds great potential.

The research, led by Professor Kevin J. Naidoo working with Dr Lateef Nashed (SCRU Glycobiomedical laboratory) and SCRU computational scientists Dr Tharindu Senapthi and doctoral student Kyllen Dilsook, focused on Mucin 1 (MUC1), a protein that behaves very differently in healthy and cancerous cells due to changes in glycosylation, the process by which sugar molecules attach to proteins. Using a novel “one-pot” synthetic biology method, combined with advanced computer-based reaction simulations, the team recreated the complex conditions found inside the cell’s Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus.