More than three-quarters of all cases of liver cancer worldwide are associated with chronic viral hepatitis but scientists have been limited in their ability to model how these viruses lead to cancer. In the new study, a Rockefeller team showed that mice infected with an engineered version of a rat virus develop liver inflammation, scarring, and ultimately cancer similar to that seen in humans with viral hepatitis-associated liver cancer. The new mouse model can be used to study how liver virus infection leads to cancer as well as to test treatments.

Salk scientists have created a platform to study mitochondrial DNA mutations that lead or contribute to human disease, and generated a library of 155 mitochondrial DNA mutant cells using the platform. The platform, library, and findings will accelerate therapeutic development for mitochondrial disorders, as well as help scientists treat mitochondrial dysfunction in other diseases and conditions like cancer or aging.

Researchers have discovered that the immune system's T cells can travel to the prostate to provide long-term protection against infections. Their findings suggest we might harness these same disease-fighting cells to treat prostate cancer.

Each year, about 85,000 adolescents and young adults (AYA) between the ages of 15 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute, this represents about 4% of all new cancer diagnoses.

Depending on age and specific diagnosis, many AYA people with cancer may be treated at either a pediatric cancer center or an adult cancer center. However, often these patients don’t feel comfortable in either setting as they feel too old for settings gear toward young children, but too young in centers where most of the patients are elderly.

This population also must navigate challenges surrounding normal milestones for others their age, such as pursuing an education, establishing a career or creating a family. Additionally, financial instability and lack of insurance coverage often deter AYAs from seeking timely medical attention, further complicating their prognosis.

The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and the Alliance Foundation Trials (AFT) have several active trials specifically poised to help the AYA population as well as others open to people in the AYA demographic.