News: Journal Watch

Matching therapies to subtypes of EGFR-mutated lung cancer New research from Vanderbilt investigators suggests that clinicians should take a deeper dive into distinguishing EGFR mutations when prescribing targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancers. EGFR exon 19 deletion mutations are the most common EGFR mutations in patients with lung cancer. However, the term “exon 19 […]

World Trade Center responders at higher risk for blood cancer-associated mutations Scientists from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) collaborated with researchers from New York to determine that 9/11 first responders to the World Trade Center have increased levels of mutations that escalate their risk for blood cancers or cardiovascular disease, according to a study published March […]

People at high genetic risk for colorectal cancer benefit more from lifestyle changes People with a high polygenic risk score for colorectal cancer could benefit more by preventing the disease by leading healthy lifestyles than those at lower genetic risk, according to a study by Vanderbilt researchers published in the April issue of The American […]

New strategy for reducing tumor growth Ann Richmond, PhD, and colleagues have discovered that blocking a certain signaling pathway boosts antitumor immunity and reduces tumor growth and metastasis in models of breast cancer and melanoma. The findings, reported Dec. 18, 2020, in the journal Cancer Immunology Research, add mechanistic insight and support for the therapeutic […]

Study finds AI can categorize cancer risk of lung nodules Computed tomography scans for people at risk for lung cancer lead to earlier diagnoses and improve survival rates, but they can also lead to overtreatment when suspicious nodules turn out to be benign. A study for which Pierre Massion, MD, was the lead author published […]

New prostate cancer treatment concept Prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death for men in the United States, is poorly responsive to immunotherapy. Recent clinical trials have hinted that combining immunotherapy and radiation therapy may be a powerful treatment approach for castration-resistant prostate cancer. Austin Kirschner, MD, PhD, and colleagues combined radiotherapy with […]

Cancer prevention drug also disables H. pylori bacterium A medicine currently being tested as a chemoprevention agent for multiple types of cancer has more than one trick in its bag when it comes to preventing stomach cancer. Keith Wilson, MD, and J. Carolina Sierra, PhD, reported in the March 12 issue of Proceedings of the […]

Glutamine metabolism affects T cell signaling & function The cellular nutrient glutamine launches a metabolic signaling pathway that promotes the function of some immune system T cells and suppresses others, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. They show that a drug that inhibits glutamine metabolism — currently in clinical trials as an anticancer agent — might also […]

Novel anti-cancer drug resistance mechanism identified Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a novel nongenetic cause of resistance to cetuximab, a mainstay of treatment for advanced colorectal cancer. The findings of Robert Coffey Jr., MD, and colleagues, published Oct. 16, 2017, in Nature Medicine, suggest a strategy for overcoming this resistance, which their research indicates is due […]

New target for colorectal cancer  In a study published March 6 in the journal Oncogene, Dana Hardbower, Ph.D., Keith Wilson, M.D., and colleagues demonstrated that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in macrophages is associated with increased colitis-associated colon cancer development. While inflammatory bowel disease and colitis can increase the risk of colon cancer, the […]