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Curated oncology headlines from reputable sources, ranked by importance with Claude Opus 5.
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…
AI-supported decision-making after endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer: what the evidence shows
A review in Clinical Endoscopy examines how machine learning could support the decision made after endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer: proceed to additional gastrectomy with lymph node dissection, or observe. The clinical problem is real — lymph node metastasis occurs in roughly 5-10% of early gastric cancers, yet about 90% of patients sent for additional surgery turn out to have none, m…
Large language models agreed with tumour board decisions in 71% of thyroid cancer cases, with discordance concentrated in complex ones
In a prospective single-centre study, anonymised clinical data of 59 consecutive thyroid cancer patients discussed by a multidisciplinary tumour board were submitted to two general-purpose language models. ChatGPT 5.2 matched the board's decision in 71.2% of cases (42/59, kappa 0.623) and Gemini 3.0 in 64.4% (38/59, kappa 0.527). Discordance increased in complex scenarios involving lateral neck di…
First-in-Class Drug Wins FDA Approval for Polycythemia Vera
The FDA has approved rusfertide (Mimrylo), a first-in-class hepcidin mimetic, for erythrocytosis in adults with polycythemia vera, a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm. The drug mimics hepcidin, the hormone regulating iron availability, with the aim of controlling haematocrit and reducing the need for therapeutic phlebotomy. In the earlier randomised phase 2 REVIVE trial (NEJM 2024, n=70), 60% of pa…
Resected pancreatic cancer: the advantage of mFOLFIRINOX over gemcitabine was seen only in KRAS-mutated tumours — molecular analysis of PRODIGE-24
A molecular analysis of the randomised PRODIGE-24/CCTG PA6 trial sequenced 317 of 350 resected pancreatic adenocarcinomas (168 patients treated with mFOLFIRINOX, 149 with gemcitabine). The advantage of mFOLFIRINOX over gemcitabine in disease-free survival was confined to KRAS-mutated tumours (sHR 0.60; 95% CI 0.45-0.79; p<0.001), with no benefit demonstrated in KRAS wild-type tumours. In the mFOLF…
BRAF V600-mutant melanoma: adding spartalizumab to dabrafenib and trametinib extended median overall survival from 41.6 to 61.5 months in the final COMBI-i analysis
In the randomised phase 3 COMBI-i trial in unresectable or metastatic BRAF V600-mutant melanoma, adding spartalizumab (an anti-PD-1 antibody) to dabrafenib and trametinib yielded a final median overall survival of 61.5 months versus 41.6 months with placebo (HR 0.760; 95% CI 0.598-0.966; 267 vs 265 patients, median follow-up 76.9 months). Key caveat: the trial did NOT meet its primary endpoint of …
Deep-learning model reading histology slides identifies which pancreatic cancer patients benefit from a given adjuvant chemotherapy regimen
Deep learning applied to routine histology slides from resected pancreatic cancer produced a biomarker (PANCprAId) predicting which patients derive greater benefit from gemcitabine versus mFOLFIRINOX. The model was developed in 231 patients who underwent pancreatectomy and received adjuvant chemotherapy, then examined in the randomised PRODIGE-24/CCTG PA6 trial (n=313), where the identified subgro…
Six-year follow-up of a personalised mRNA vaccine in pancreatic cancer: 7 of 8 immune responders alive (phase 1, 16 patients)
In a phase 1 trial of autogene cevumeran — a personalised mRNA vaccine given after resection of pancreatic cancer — 8 of 16 patients mounted a tumour-specific immune response. After 4-6 years of follow-up, 7 of those 8 were alive, compared with 2 of 8 non-responders (median survival 3.4 years). The data were presented at the 2026 AACR Annual Meeting. The study was small and non-randomised, so the …
Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the USA doubled between 1990 and 2023
Cancer deaths attributable to alcohol in the USA rose from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023 — a doubling over 33 years. The figures come from a secondary analysis of Global Burden of Disease data, so they are attributable-fraction estimates rather than counted deaths: they describe the scale of the problem in a population, not the risk faced by any one person. Increases spanned liver, breast, colo…
MedPage Today roundup: FDA approves ropeginterferon alfa-2b for essential thrombocythemia — first new therapy for this myeloproliferative neoplasm since 1997
The FDA approved ropeginterferon alfa-2b (Besremi) for adults with essential thrombocythemia, marking the first new therapy for this chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm since anagrelide's approval in 1997. The roundup also highlights emerging data on AI-assisted mammography screening and a positive phase III trial result in multiple myeloma. Although Besremi was previously approved for polycythemi…