Oncology & Cancer

The KRAS G12C mutation is found in approximately 3% of all colorectal cancer cases and 1% to 2% of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cases, according to Hao Xie, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

For terminally ill cancer patients, the final days of life are immensely personal, having the choice to continue cancer treatments, or to stop treatments and prioritize a more comfortable passing. What a patient wants, however, isn’t always what they receive, according to a Rutgers Health study published in the journal Cancer.

Neuroblastoma is a solid tumor that occurs in children. When high-risk, the disease has a poor prognosis. Decades ago, adding the drug retinoic acid to neuroblastoma treatment increased survival by 10–15%. However, this effect was only evident in post-chemotherapy consolidation after bulky primary tumors had largely been eliminated. Why retinoic acid is effective in this setting but not against primary tumors, has been speculated about for nearly 50 years.

New research has looked into a comprehensive and structured approach to genetic testing, matching children and young people with cancer to targeted treatments. The study aimed to advance precision medicine in the UK to help young cancer patients receive more targeted cancer treatments, an important step towards increasing survival rates and reducing the side-effects of treatment.

Australians have one of the highest rates of breast cancer diagnoses in the world, according to new data that looked at global breast cancer incidence and death rates in 185 countries. The incidence rate for breast cancer was highest in Australia and New Zealand (NZ), although rates of death from breast cancer were at the lower end of the scale. The study found Australia and NZ were reducing their breast cancer mortality by 2.1% per year—well on the way to meeting the World Health Organization Global Breast Cancer Initiative goal of 2.5% a year.

In metastatic cancer surveillance, monitoring the actual concentrations of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may be critical. Researchers showed that absolute ctDNA concentration thresholds can be defined to rule out or predict impending cancer progression.

Kyushu University researchers have uncovered a surprising layer of complexity in aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs)—adrenal gland tumors that drive high blood pressure. Using cutting-edge analysis techniques, they discovered that these tumors harbor at least four distinct cell types, including ones that produce cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researchers have found RNA neoantigen vaccines that generate long-lived, functional CD8+ T cells in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), potentially delaying disease recurrence.

Researchers led by the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Korea, have checked the performance of a noninvasive urinary DNA methylation test for bladder cancer diagnosis.

A patient has achieved over 18 years of remission from neuroblastoma, a type of nerve cell cancer, following treatment with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy and without requiring any additional treatments. The findings are published in Nature Medicine.