EurekAlert! Cancer Research - News Releases

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jun-2026 19:16 ET (21-Jun-2026 23:16 GMT/UTC)

Immune checkpoint inhibitor–induced liver injury: a critical appraisal of treatment and rechallenge controversies

Xia & He Publishing Inc.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The expanding use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has increased immune‑related hepatotoxicity (ChILI). Despite major guidelines, no standardized treatment consensus exists. Key controversies include immunosuppression thresholds, biopsy indications, second‑line therapies, and rechallenge criteria. Corticosteroids remain first‑line, but 20–30% are steroid‑refractory. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) shows promise in cholestatic ChILI. Rechallenge is increasingly considered, with recurrence rates of 22–31%, mostly mild. In HCC patients with cirrhosis, hepatotoxicity is hard to distinguish from tumor progression, emphasizing biopsy and multidisciplinary evaluation. Future studies must clarify algorithms and rechallenge safety.

Journal: Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology

Extra sets of chromosomes make cells more mobile

Rockefeller University Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine have discovered that if animal cells gain an extra set of chromosomes, a condition known as polyploidy, they activate a stress signaling pathway that causes them to become more mobile and capable of engulfing neighboring cells with normal chromosome numbers. The study, to be published April 21 in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), could provide new ways to target polyploid cancer cells, which are thought to promote tumor aggressiveness and therapy resistance.

Journal: Journal of Cell Biology
Funder: Ladies Leukemia League, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, Tulane COR Research Fellowships, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Study reveals dynamic interactions between brain tumors and immune cells

DZNE - German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Glioblastoma, the most common and most aggressive brain tumor type in adults, remains difficult to treat because it can infiltrate surrounding brain tissue and spread far beyond the main tumor. DZNE scientists and collaborators have captured this infiltration process in the living brain with advanced microscopy. Their study, published Immunity, is based on observations in mice affected by a brain cancer very similar to human glioblastoma.

Journal: Immunity

Targeting the yin and yang of macrophages to strengthen cancer vaccines and anti-tumor immunity

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Dartmouth researchers have discovered that immune cells called macrophages play opposing roles in cancer, with some fighting tumors, while others help them grow. A study published in Nature Immunology points to a more precise approach to cancer treatment by selectively blocking the cells that suppress the body’s natural defenses, using a drug already approved by the FDA.

Journal: Nature Immunology

Mechanohealth: Where life science meets physical forces for health innovation

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Integrating mechanobiological principles into disease pathogenesis, therapeutic development, and tissue engineering is reshaping our understanding of biological systems and accelerating the advancement of mechanotherapy and mechanohealth. This field reveals how mechanical cues regulate cellular behavior, such as force transmission along integrin-nucleus pathways and collective cell migration, and tissue functions. In doing so, mechanobiology connects fundamental research with clinical applications, from limiting cancer metastasis and fibrosis to promoting bone regeneration and maintaining vascular homeostasis. Building on discussion from the Inaugural International Conference on Mechanobiology (ICM) 2025, integrating mechanobiological research with clinical strategies offers new opportunities to address unmet needs, including personalized anti-fibrotic interventions or precision bone regenerative therapies. At the same time, it supports the broader concept of mechanohealth -- a paradigm focused on preserving the physiological mechanical balance within tissues.

Journal: Mechanobiology in Medicine

VHIO-led study links epigenetic changes caused by diet, tobacco, and pesticide exposure to the development of colorectal cancer in people younger than 50 years of age

Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Investigators from VHIO, which is part of the Vall Hebron Campus, publish the first study to address the impact of the exposome on early-onset colorectal cancer through epigenetic signatures.

The researchers compared epigenetic methylation marks in patients with early-onset colorectal cancer with those of patients with late-onset colorectal cancer and confirmed previously identified risk factors including diet, education level, and smoking.

They have now identified exposure to picloram, a widely used herbicide, as a new risk factor associated with the development of colorectal cancer in individuals younger than 50 years old. Using population data, the investigators report that US counties with a higher use of this pesticide have higher rates of early-onset colorectal cancer, even after accounting for socioeconomic factors and the use of other pesticides.

Published today in Nature Medicine, this research has been possible thanks to the funding received from the "la Caixa" Foundation and the Spanish Association Against Cancer.

Journal: Nature Medicine

Global survey reveals significant burden and inconsistent management of hypophosphataemic osteomalacia in adults

International Osteoporosis Foundation
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new international survey led by the International Osteoporosis Foundation reveals that adults living with hypophosphataemic osteomalacia (HO), a rare metabolic bone disorder, face a substantial and often under-recognised disease burden, with wide variation in how the condition is managed worldwide.

Journal: Archives of Osteoporosis

In Switzerland, colorectal cancer is increasing among people under 50

Université de Genève
Peer-Reviewed Publication

While the incidence of colorectal cancer is decreasing among those over 50, it is rising at an alarming rate among younger individuals, sometimes as early as their thirties. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) has published the first national study on this phenomenon in Switzerland. Based on an analysis of nearly 100,000 cases over 40 years, the study reveals an annual increase of 0.5% in this population. Published in the European Journal of Cancer, the research also highlights the challenge of late diagnoses and calls for increased awareness.

Journal: European Journal of Cancer

Alliance study shows new promise against locally advanced lung cancer

Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New findings of an Alliance Foundation Trials study show combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy before surgery improves outcomes for some patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to the results of AFT-46/CHIO3 published in Lung Cancer.

Journal: Lung Cancer
Funder: Alliance Foundation Trials, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Foundation, AstraZeneca

Groundbreaking bowel cancer trial follow-up shows zero relapses

University College London
Reports and Proceedings

Patients with a specific type of bowel cancer who were treated with a short course of immunotherapy before surgery instead of post-op chemotherapy have remained cancer-free after almost three years of follow-up, according to new results from the NEOPRISM-CRC clinical trial led by a team from UCL and UCLH.

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