Researchers identified a six-gene signature in microscopic colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastases that may help predict recurrence after treatment. These tiny, often undetectable tumor deposits could serve as a tissue-based marker of residual cancer cells, recurrence risk and chemotherapy resistance. The comprehensive spatial analyses of CRC metastases used advanced genomic technologies to uncover insights into how micrometastases evolve, evade the immune system and persist after treatment. The study was co-led by Dipen Maru, M.D., professor of Anatomical Pathology; Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D.,...

A new study demonstrated that targeting mutant KRAS may offer a promising new treatment option for appendix cancer. Researchers led by John Paul Shen, M.D., assistant professor, Saikat Chowdhury, Ph.D., instructor, and Ichiaki Ito, Ph.D., research scientist, all of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, demonstrated that KRAS inhibitors significantly reduced tumor growth, blocked key cancer signaling pathways and triggered cancer cell death in advanced preclinical models of appendiceal adenocarcinoma. In a clinical cohort of 15 patients treated with a variety...

Researchers created a comprehensive single-cell map of the tumor immune microenvironment in multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions, providing new insights that may explain why patients with similar diagnoses often have differences in disease progression, treatment response, and outcomes. The study was co-led by Robert Orlowski, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Lymphoma/Myeloma and Experimental Therapeutics; and Linghua Wang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genomic Medicine, executive director and head of the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence, associate...

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced it has joined a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the elimination of cervical cancer worldwide. The collaboration agreement with the Elimination Partnership in Cervical Cancer (EPICC) expands UT MD Anderson’s global oncology efforts, further strengthening its commitment to advancing cancer prevention and control in medically underserved regions. The EPICC program, led by the University of Sydney in collaboration with a consortium of local and global...

A comprehensive multi-cancer study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has revealed that cancer cells within tumors are genetically diverse, yet all carry the same core genetic changes that can be traced back to a common ancestral cell, providing a single-cell view of how tumors adapt, survive and diversify. Understanding this helps explain why some cancer cells manage to survive treatments, paving the way for more tailored diagnostic and therapeutic...

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a spatial map of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, revealing how tumor cell states, immune environments and therapeutic vulnerabilities are organized within tumors. The study, published in Cancer Discovery, provides a new framework for understanding why patients with bladder cancer may respond differently to treatment. The research was led by Linghua Wang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genomic Medicine, executive director and head of the Center...

A new treatment platform developed by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was able to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) of the full-length DMD gene into preclinical models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, successfully restoring the production of an important muscle protein, dystrophin, and dramatically improving muscle strength, endurance and function in vivo. The study, published today in Nature Biomedical Engineering, was co-led by Betty Kim, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Neurosurgery and core...

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and CTMC, a joint venture between UT MD Anderson and Resilience, today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a ‘safe to proceed’ for the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. The cell therapy, developed in the laboratory of Sattva Neelapu, M.D., professor of Lymphoma & Myeloma at UT MD Anderson, will enter a Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with relapsed or...

The targeted RAS inhibitor therapy daraxonrasib demonstrated the potential to improve patient outcomes over current standard treatments for patients with RAS-mutant pancreatic cancer, according to results of a Phase 1/2 trial led by David Hong, M.D., deputy chair of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics. Thirty-eight patients received a 300 mg. dose of daraxonrasib. The response rate was 29% and median overall survival was 15.6 months, a significant improvement over historical response rates to second-line chemotherapy. “This trial provides a really strong signal that this...

Researchers characterized cancer cell-specific features in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues, identifying specific macrophage subtypes associated with chemotherapy response. The researchers developed a 13-gene panel and a machine learning model that can predict which patients are more likely to respond to treatment, laying the groundwork for developing novel diagnostic approaches and personalized therapeutic strategies. This represents one of the first large-scale single-cell genomic studies of TNBC, providing an unprecedented view of both cancer cell biology...