EurekAlert! Cancer Research - News Releases

News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Oct-2026 10:16 ET (26-Oct-2026 14:16 GMT/UTC)

University of Houston biologists awarded nearly $1 million NSF grant to study how mutation rates evolve

University of Houston
Grant and Award Announcement

A nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow University of Houston researchers to investigate how mutation rates evolve across species — work that could offer critical insights into cancer progression and antibiotic resistance.

Colorectal cancer may quietly damage nerves prior to chemotherapy

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that, in preclinical models of colorectal cancer, tumors can start damaging peripheral nerves before chemotherapy begins. These findings suggest tumor-related inflammation and changes to fat metabolism could damage the protective coating around nerves, disrupting signals and potentially making them more vulnerable to treatment-induced peripheral neuropathy, or nerve damage.

Journal: Nature Communications

New chip mimics how cancer spreads

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study published on August 19 in Science Translational Medicine, Columbia Engineering professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic and her team report the development of a multi-organ chip that mimics how cancer cells spread from vascular flow to distant organs, the first model of cancer metastasis of its kind.

Journal: Science Translational Medicine
Funder: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Research alert: Study identifies previously missed DNA mutation pattern in colorectal cancer

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers identified a previously overlooked pattern of DNA mutations in colorectal cancer. The pattern had been detected in large cancer-genome datasets before, but researchers had interpreted it as a combination of other, already known mutation patterns.

Journal: Nature Communications

Next-gen mRNA therapeutics get a new delivery vehicle

Nagoya University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan in collaboration with FUJIFILM have developed a novel way of delivering circular RNA (cirRNA) into cells, paving way for longer-lasting mRNA-based therapeutics including cancer vaccines and GLP-1 obesity treatments.

Journal: Cell Biomaterials
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI, Japan Science and Technology Agency CREST, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)

Immune remodeling in extreme old age: how supercentenarians reshape their immune system

The University of Osaka
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Osaka discovered that people who reach extreme old age have an unusual immune system. Around the age of 100, they develop large numbers of rare immune cells that resemble those seen in people fighting cancer, allowing them to remain highly active in their supercentenarian years. The findings suggest that the immune system can adapt with age and may help protect some people from disease to support exceptional longevity.

Journal: Cell Reports
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Takeda Science Foundation, Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research

Supercentenarians have an abundance of cancer-killing immune cells

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The human immune system has specialized cells called CD4 cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD4 CTLs), which have been shown to kill tumor cells in some cancers. When a person gets sick, these cells multiply in a process called clonal expansion to help fight infection. In a study publishing in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on August 19, researchers show that these immune cells also may play a role in healthy aging among supercentenarians.

Journal: Cell Reports
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Institute for Protein Research, University of Osaka, Takeda Science Foundation, Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research, Keio University Global Initiative Research Projects, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences

Newly found ‘immune organ’ inside skull directs brain defense

WashU Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at WashU Medicine discovered lymph node-like structures in the skull bone marrow of mice that play a role in mounting a rapid immune response in the brain.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Korea National Institute of Health, Cure Alzheimer's Fund, National Research Foundation of Korea

Preoperative high-dose corticosteroids in digestive cancer surgery

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About the Study: In this randomized clinical trial of elective digestive cancer surgery, a preoperative pulse dose of methylprednisolone did not improve major postoperative outcomes compared with placebo. The findings do not support routine use of high-dose corticosteroids in this setting.

Journal: JAMA Surgery

Bacteria found in lung tumors may boost immune response to cancer

Johns Hopkins Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Bacteria in lung tumors may boost the activation of innate immune cells in the presence of a common vitamin metabolite, according to a preclinical study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Commonwealth Foundation, Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

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