News
Curated oncology headlines from reputable sources, ranked by importance with Claude Opus 5.
Blood Tests in the New Colorectal Cancer Screening Guideline
The American Cancer Society updated its colorectal cancer screening guideline in 2026, for the first time including a blood-based screening test that detects cell-free DNA. The guideline states explicitly that blood-based tests are NOT a preferred option — they should be offered only to people who decline or have not completed a preferred screening test, because of lower sensitivity for advanced p…
Drinking Water Contaminants Associated With Uterine Cancer Risk
A study published in JAMA Network Open found that common contaminants in public drinking water supplies are associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer. The research adds to growing evidence linking environmental exposures to gynecological malignancies, though specific contaminants and effect sizes were not detailed in the available summary. The findings suggest that water quality monitori…
DeepMind’s new genome ‘atlas’ charts effects of all 9 billion human gene mutations
DeepMind's AlphaGenome model computationally predicts the functional consequences of all roughly 9 billion possible single-nucleotide variants in the human genome, estimating for each DNA letter change its effect on gene expression, splicing and regulatory elements. In oncology it is intended to support the interpretation of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) encountered in tumour sequencing…
Phase 3 TALENTop trial: liver resection after atezolizumab and bevacizumab lengthens time to treatment failure in locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
In the randomised phase 3 TALENTop trial (24 hospitals in China), 201 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and macrovascular invasion who had responded to induction atezolizumab plus bevacizumab were randomly assigned to liver resection followed by maintenance treatment or to maintenance treatment alone. Median time to treatment failure was 20.4 months in the surgery group versus 11.8 months in …
TG4050 neoantigen vaccine as adjuvant treatment in head and neck cancer: no relapses among 16 vaccinated patients in a randomised phase 1 trial
In a randomised phase 1 trial (NCT04183166), patients with completely resected head and neck squamous cell carcinoma received TG4050, an individually designed vaccine on a Modified Vaccinia Ankara viral vector encoding up to 30 predicted patient-specific neoantigens. In the arm vaccinated immediately after adjuvant therapy, none of the 16 evaluable patients relapsed at a median follow-up of 30 mon…
Neutrophils in cancer
A comprehensive review in Nature Reviews Cancer examines the context-dependent pro-tumour and antitumour roles of neutrophils across cancer types, including their contributions to tumour progression and metastasis. Diehl, Basto et al. draw parallels between neutrophil functions in cancer and non-cancer inflammatory settings to clarify the mechanisms underlying neutrophil plasticity. The review hig…
From algorithms to patient outcomes — lessons from one of the first randomized trials of AI in medicine
A Nature Medicine commentary argues that the next generation of medical AI should be judged not by whether algorithms match clinicians but by whether integrated human–AI systems measurably improve patient outcomes. The authors draw lessons from the first completed randomized controlled trials of AI in clinical practice and call for trial designs that capture downstream clinical endpoints rather th…
Scientists find breast cancer cells hiding behind protective “shields”
Researchers have mapped breast tumors at high resolution and identified hidden pockets of dormant cancer cells that may explain cancer recurrence after treatment. These quiescent cells can effectively hibernate, evading chemotherapy that targets rapidly dividing cells, and reactivate at a later time. The team discovered that dormant cells are frequently surrounded by immune cells and connective ti…
Therapy for Stage IV Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer With Driver Alterations: ASCO Living Guideline, Version 2026.3.2
ASCO has published version 2026.3.2 of its living guideline for stage IV non-small cell lung cancer with oncogenic driver alterations (Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 44, Issue 26, pp. e127-e139). The document collects recommendations for molecularly defined subgroups, including EGFR, ALK, ROS1, BRAF, MET, RET, KRAS G12C, NTRK and HER2 alterations, and is revised continuously as new data emerge…
Generative AI in neoantigen cancer vaccine design — a review of promise and limits
A review published in Biotechnology Advances (1 September 2026) sets out where generative models can assist in designing therapeutic neoantigen cancer vaccines: tumour antigen discovery, ranking candidates by predicted immunogenicity, and assembling multi-epitope constructs. The authors also state why clinical efficacy of these vaccines remains constrained — imperfect antigen prioritisation, incom…