Charles Swanton, Rebecca L Eccles, Gabriela Carreno, Lorenzo de la Rica, Sandra Ryeom, David Scott
{"title":"The urgent challenge of gastroesophageal cancer.","authors":"Charles Swanton, Rebecca L Eccles, Gabriela Carreno, Lorenzo de la Rica, Sandra Ryeom, David Scott","doi":"10.1038/s41568-026-00990-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-026-00990-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":60.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149148647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John R Prensner, William A Freed-Pastor, Jennifer G Abelin, Catherine J Wu, Yifat Merbl, Yitzhak Pilpel, Ton N Schumacher, Jonathan S Weissman, Sebastiaan van Heesch, Reuven Agami
{"title":"Mapping the functional dark proteome in cancer.","authors":"John R Prensner, William A Freed-Pastor, Jennifer G Abelin, Catherine J Wu, Yifat Merbl, Yitzhak Pilpel, Ton N Schumacher, Jonathan S Weissman, Sebastiaan van Heesch, Reuven Agami","doi":"10.1038/s41568-026-00985-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-026-00985-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A generation after the genomics revolution, and with the advent of proteomic technologies, the dark proteome now stands as a potential new direction for cancer science and therapeutics. The dark proteome covers a vast terrain of previously undiscovered and uncharacterized protein molecules derived from alternative genomic loci or altered RNA translation. Over the past decade, an unprecedented depth of resolution of the dark proteome has been attained, identifying diverse classes of dark proteins with thousands of members each. Increasingly, individual dark proteins are also being characterized as functional components of cancer cell biology as well as potential therapeutic targets. Therefore, as a whole, the dark proteome offers the possibility to advance cancer science, diagnosis and treatment. Yet, many fundamental questions about the dark proteome remain, including key gaps in knowledge regarding its regulation, contribution to cancer phenotypes and antigenicity, and tractability for clinical-grade therapies. This Perspective outlines the current state of knowledge of the dark proteome in cancer, highlighting critical areas in which further research is needed. Furthermore, it poses guiding questions that illuminate important directions of growth for the field of the cancer dark proteome.</p>","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":60.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149137690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Boosting CAR T cell efficacy in cancer with metabolic insights from design to diet","authors":"Jessica Morgan,Sarah MacPherson,Julian J. Lum","doi":"10.1038/s41568-026-00984-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-026-00984-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":78.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149088305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Psychosocial burden in cancer survivors","authors":"Patricia A. Ganz","doi":"10.1038/s41568-026-00986-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-026-00986-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":78.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149088309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From blunt-force treatment to precision: 25 years of transformation in cancer research","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41568-026-00980-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-026-00980-6","url":null,"abstract":"This issue marks the 25th anniversary of Nature Reviews Cancer. On this milestone we contemplate how our view of cancer has changed over the past 25 years and speculate on what the future holds. This Editorial marks the 25th anniversary of Nature Reviews Cancer. On this milestone we contemplate how our view of cancer has changed over the past 25 years and speculate on what the future holds.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"26 10","pages":"739-740"},"PeriodicalIF":60.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41568-026-00980-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149014809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Raymond Chen, Aobo He, Håvard T Lindholm, Daniel D De Carvalho
{"title":"Viral mimicry escape as a necessary feature of malignant transformation.","authors":"Raymond Chen, Aobo He, Håvard T Lindholm, Daniel D De Carvalho","doi":"10.1038/s41568-026-00977-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-026-00977-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Malignant transformation is driven by disruption of pathways regulating proliferation and cell fate, but these same disruptions can create a collateral vulnerability: loss of transcriptional and epigenetic control over transposable elements and other normally silenced genomic regions. Consequently, emerging cancer cells can accumulate transposable element-derived and other endogenous immunogenic nucleic acids capable of triggering antiviral responses, a process termed viral mimicry. Increasing evidence indicates that viral mimicry can eliminate precancerous cells and shape tumour evolution, positioning it as an intrinsic tumour-suppressive mechanism. Here we highlight how cancer-associated changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications, splicing and RNA processing can lead to the presence of immunogenic nucleic acids that can activate viral mimicry pathways. We outline how cancer cells suppress viral mimicry, including compensatory epigenetic repression, RNA editing, nucleic acid decay and dampening of interferon signalling to enable cancer cell growth. Finally, we highlight the evidence suggesting that escaping viral mimicry is a fundamental process for cancer initiation and progression, and suggest that viral mimicry escape is necessary for cancer transformation and a therapeutic target in combination with immunotherapies. By framing viral mimicry escape as a necessary part of cancer transformation, this Review provides a unifying conceptual model for its translational exploitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":60.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148977280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}