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Curated oncology headlines from reputable sources, ranked by importance with Claude Opus 5.
First successful phase 3 trial of a personalised mRNA cancer vaccine in melanoma (INTerpath-001)
The phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and the key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) in 1,137 patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV cutaneous melanoma, randomised 2:1 to the personalised mRNA vaccine intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157) plus pembrolizumab or to pembrolizumab alone. The sponsors (Merck and Moderna) …
Study Warns on Venetoclax in Double-Hit Lymphoma
Adding the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax to chemoimmunotherapy worsened outcomes and caused excess mortality in patients with newly diagnosed double-hit lymphoma in a randomized phase II trial. The negative safety signal challenges the rationale of combining venetoclax with standard regimens in this aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtype characterized by concurrent MYC and BCL2 rearrangements.…
[Series] The changing therapeutic landscape of small-cell lung cancer
A Lancet Series review synthesises the past decade of advances in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) biology and the novel therapeutic strategies they are enabling. SCLC remains an exceptionally aggressive, highly proliferative malignancy that is frequently metastatic at diagnosis and rapidly becomes refractory to standard chemotherapy despite high initial response rates. The article maps how improved …
Platinum chemotherapy ages the liver | Science
Platinum-based chemotherapy drugs induce somatic mutations and accelerate biological aging of the liver in children treated for cancer, according to a study published in Science. The findings reveal that cisplatin and related agents leave a lasting mutational footprint in hepatocytes, effectively making the organ biologically older than the patient’s chronological age. The discovery has significan…
Chronic type II interferon promotes tumor growth through mitochondrial RNA–induced type I interferon and prostaglandin synthesis | Science
Chronic type II interferon (IFN-γ) signaling paradoxically drives tumor growth by triggering mitochondrial RNA release, which activates type I interferon and prostaglandin E2 synthesis, creating an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The study, published in Science, elucidates a mechanistic pathway through which sustained inflammatory signaling flips from anti-tumor to pro-tumor, enabling ca…
Extensive and differential platinum chemotherapy mutagenesis in livers of children | Science
Duplex sequencing (NanoSeq) of normal liver tissue from childhood cancer survivors revealed extensive and highly differential mutagenesis caused by platinum-based chemotherapy, providing a direct molecular link between treatment exposure and late adverse effects. The study found that platinum agents leave a distinctive mutational signature in pediatric hepatocytes that differs markedly from age-re…
Computable longitudinal patient journeys from structured and unstructured EHR data
A suite of large pre-trained language models demonstrated the ability to accurately extract computable clinical data from unstructured electronic health records and integrate findings into knowledge graphs representing longitudinal patient journeys. The system facilitates understanding of real-world patient trajectories and treatment responses by converting free-text clinical notes into structured…
Complete Regression of Hepatoblastoma after Interleukin-15– and Interleukin-21–Coexpressing CAR T-Cell Therapy
A patient with hepatoblastoma achieved complete regression following treatment with CAR T cells engineered to coexpress interleukin-15 and interleukin-21, as reported in a brief communication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The dual-cytokine CAR-T construct represents a novel approach to enhancing T-cell persistence and antitumor activity in a pediatric solid tumor that has limited options…
Zongertinib in HER2-Mutant Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
The NEJM has published a short item on zongertinib, a selective irreversible HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in HER2-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer — a molecular subset accounting for roughly 2–4% of NSCLC cases. Zongertinib belongs to a class of targeted agents developed specifically for this subset, which has until now been treated mainly with chemotherapy or with HER2-directed drugs used off…
Treatment Decisions in Multiple Myeloma
The New England Journal of Medicine published a comprehensive clinical-practice review on treatment decision-making in multiple myeloma, synthesizing current evidence across frontline and relapsed settings. The review, spanning 17 pages in the journal’s September 2026 issue, likely addresses evolving standards including quadruplet induction regimens, bispecific antibodies, and CAR-T sequencing in …