cancer

Although tobacco consumption is declining in many parts of the world, there appears to be an increase in the number of lung cancer cases among non-smokers. One of the possible causes of this increase is air pollution. Now, researchers in the US, with Spanish participation, have analysed the genomes of 871 lung tumours in people from various locations who had never smoked. The results, published in the journal Nature, indicate that greater exposure to pollution is linked to an increase in the number of mutations, including those commonly associated with tobacco.

So-called precision oncology involves the use of drugs that target specific molecular alterations in the tumour. These therapies are usually tested in clinical trials in adults and most have not been approved for use in children. An opinion article calls for these trials to be extended to children as well, given the difficulty of conducting such trials in children due to the small number of cases. According to the authors, who publish the text in the journal Trends in Cancer, given that children and adolescents tend to tolerate therapy better than older adults, ‘the time has come to consider age-agnostic approvals, i.e. approvals that include children and adults of any age’.

Research analyzing data from more than 200 countries concludes that people over the age of 65 will face an increase in skin cancer cases over the next two decades. The study, published in JAMA Dermatology, used data from 1990 to 2021 and made estimates through 2050. Men and people living in countries with higher sociodemographic indices showed a higher incidence.

A phase 1 clinical trial has tested the safety and preliminary efficacy of a new form of CAR-T cell therapy - which they call “armed” - in patients with lymphoma. The novelty consists of adding another gene to help increase response. Of the 21 patients treated, all resistant to multiple lines of treatment including approved CAR-T therapies in 20 of them, 81% showed a response and 52% went on to achieve complete remission without significantly greater side effects than with the standard option. The results are published in the journal NEJM.  

A study published today in Nature with the participation of the CNIO points to the bacterial toxin colibactin, produced by some strains of Escherichia coli, as a possible culprit in the increase in early-onset colorectal cancer. The study shows that exposure to the toxin during early childhood leaves a genetic signature in colon cells and demonstrates a substantial increase in these mutations in cases of colorectal cancer in people under 50.

A model designed by a team of US researchers estimates that around 93 million computed tomography (CT) scans will be performed in the United States in 2023. The research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, estimates that radiation from these scans could lead to 103,000 future cancers. If the same trend continues, cancers associated with these scans would account for 5% of all new cancer diagnoses per year in the US.

One of the problems with prostate cancer screening is that it results in a high rate of false positives, that is, erroneous diagnoses in people without the disease. A study in the UK has applied a genetic test to more than 6,000 people aged between 55 and 69, analysing 130 variants related to this tumour, which allows a ‘risk score’ to be calculated. According to the results, which are published in the journal NEJM, the test detected the disease more likely in people with higher values than traditional screening.

A team led by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has shown in mice that a high-fat diet increases metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer, which has the worst prognosis. In addition, it has identified several of the mechanisms that would explain this, such as the activation of platelets and coagulation, which would help the tumour hide from the body's defences and prepare the so-called ‘pre-metastatic niche’. According to the researchers, who published the results in Nature Communications, ‘this mechanism could be extrapolated to other tumour types and other organs’. The results suggest that ‘dietary intervention, together with the control of platelet activity, may increase the efficiency of certain anti-tumour treatments’.

In women, high consumption of sugary drinks is associated with an increased risk of oral cavity cancer, according to a study published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Among research participants who consumed one or more sugary drinks per day, the rate of these cancers was 5 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 2 cases per 100,000 among those who drank less than one per month. The analysis is based on data from more than 162,000 nurses followed for 30 years in the United States. According to the authors, further studies with larger samples, including men, are needed to validate these results.

Extrachromosomal DNA circles are structures that appear floating in the nucleus of cells in some tumours and are associated with a poor prognosis. Now, an international team has studied the mechanism by which they could contribute to the aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer. The circles may contain an oncogene called Myc that promotes growth. Furthermore, their quantity increases or decreases to adapt to the environment. Although they were only observed in 15% of the cases studied, the discovery could open up new possibilities for treatment, according to the authors. The results are published in the journal Nature.