{"title":"Tumour tissue: heterogeneous, but not disordered","authors":"Barbara T. Grünwald, Rama Khokha","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00852-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-025-00852-5","url":null,"abstract":"Recent multidimensional molecular profiling advances have begun to match the complexity of cancer, revolutionizing our appreciation of tumours as complex ecosystems. In this Comment, Grünwald and Khokha call for a shift in comprehension of tumour tissue organization; while tumour tissues are heterogeneous, they are not disordered, and, like all multicellular entities, they propagate their functions via a considerable level of self-organization. Multidimensional molecular profiling advances have begun to match the complexity of cancer, and tumours are now seen as complex ecosystems. We postulate that a shift in comprehension is needed to synthesize actionable insights — tumour tissues are heterogeneous but not disordered and propagate their functions by a considerable level of self-organization.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"671 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":78.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144629609","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":"Cancer progression through the lens of age-induced metabolic reprogramming","authors":"Felicia Lazure, Ana P. Gomes","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00845-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00845-4","url":null,"abstract":"Ageing is an important risk factor for cancer incidence and augments cancer progression. A shared hallmark of ageing and cancer is metabolic reprogramming, which has been suggested to be not only a cause but also a consequence of ageing. Strikingly, many age-regulated pathways are known to also drive tumour progression, suggesting that metabolic reprogramming connects ageing and tumorigenic processes and shapes whether malignant phenotypes manifest, thrive and evolve. With the rising average age of the world population, understanding how age-related changes in the body influence cancer progression is of paramount importance. In this Perspective, we discuss the metabolic changes that occur with ageing and their potential links with tumour initiation and progression and the development of metastatic disease. Finally, we discuss age-induced metabolic divergences that cause racial disparities and their consequences for the tumorigenic process. In this Perspective, Lazure and Gomes argue that metabolic changes that occur as a result of ageing may shape tumour initiation and progression and the development of metastatic disease.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 10","pages":"801-817"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144603760","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":"Modelling the ageing dependence of cancer evolutionary trajectories","authors":"Curtis J. Henry, James DeGregori","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00838-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00838-3","url":null,"abstract":"Ageing is the single most important prognostic factor for cancer development. Despite this knowledge, experimental models of cancer have historically omitted incorporating the impact of age on cancer initiation, progression and treatment outcomes. Ageing interacts with other lifestyle factors, including cigarette smoking, obesity and physical activity, but these intersections are rarely studied in experimental models. Given that cancer-related mortality rates increase with age, there is a growing emphasis on modelling ageing-associated mutational and microenvironmental changes in cancer research. In this Review, we provide guidance on the technological advancements and experimental strategies that have increased our ability to model how ageing impacts various stages of cancer evolution, from mutation-driven clonal expansions, to pre-malignant lesions, and then to progression to more malignant phenotypes and metastasis, and responses to therapies. We discuss the benefits and limitations of methods and models used. The wider adoption of age-appropriate models of cancer will enable the development of improved approaches for the detection, prevention and therapeutic intervention of human cancers. In this Review, Henry and DeGregori discuss the contributions of the various models and methods used to study the connection between ageing and cancer, highlighting the strengths and limitations of those models and technologies, as well as advocating for the wider adoption of age-appropriate models of cancer to improve our clinical translation of approaches to prevent and treat human cancers.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 10","pages":"757-780"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144594154","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":"Deviant by environment","authors":"Gabrielle Brewer","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00853-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00853-4","url":null,"abstract":"The presence of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) in tumours is often linked with response to immunotherapy, however, the maturation status of the TLS can influence its immunological function. Now, Tang et al. uncover tryptophan metabolism as a factor determining TLS maturation status","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 8","pages":"572-572"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144603213","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":"Application of digital twins for personalized oncology","authors":"Uzma Saddia Asghar, Caroline Chung","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00850-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-025-00850-7","url":null,"abstract":"Digital twins are virtual representations that evolve over time with new data inputs. Cancer applications of digital twins include the integration of molecular information and individual drug responses of patients. They can inform individualized treatment, accelerate drug development through clinical trial simulation and enable the exploration of multiscale relationships in the entire human body to drive new therapeutic discoveries. Digital twins are virtual representations that evolve over time with new data inputs. In this Comment, Asghar and Chung describe cancer applications of digital twins that include the integration of molecular information and individual drug responses of patients, and explain how they can inform individualized treatment, accelerate drug development through clinical trial simulation and enable the exploration of multiscale relationships in the entire human body to drive new therapeutic discoveries.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"697 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":78.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144594156","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":"Combining spatial transcriptomics and AI to enhance brain tumour diagnosis.","authors":"Yahaya A Yabo","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00851-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-025-00851-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":72.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144564986","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":"Exhausting bonding","authors":"Daniela Senft","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00849-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00849-0","url":null,"abstract":"Although disulfide stress in cancer cells under glucose starvation is known to trigger disulfidptosis, its role in the tumour microenvironment has remained unclear. A recent study in Nature Cell Biology reveals that in intratumoural CD8+ T cells, disulfidptosis promotes T cell exhaustion and thereby limits antitumour imunity.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 8","pages":"571-571"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144533661","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}
Orsolya Vincze, Benjamin Spada, David Bilder, Alex Cagan, James DeGregori, Vera Gorbunova, Carlo C. Maley, Joshua D. Schiffman, Andrei Seluanov, Mathieu Giraudeau, Thomas Pradeu
{"title":"Advancing cancer research via comparative oncology","authors":"Orsolya Vincze, Benjamin Spada, David Bilder, Alex Cagan, James DeGregori, Vera Gorbunova, Carlo C. Maley, Joshua D. Schiffman, Andrei Seluanov, Mathieu Giraudeau, Thomas Pradeu","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00841-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00841-8","url":null,"abstract":"In the ongoing battle against cancer, the natural world provides promising inspiration for designing novel therapeutic strategies. The field of comparative oncology offers a valuable source of such inspiration. By combining evolutionary biology, ecology, veterinary medicine and clinical oncology, comparative oncology aims to better understand cancer, especially by highlighting taxa that are strongly resistant or susceptible to cancer and to identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the remarkable cancer resistance of some taxa. Such studies hold profound implications for human cancer research and treatment, and increase the probability of detecting therapeutic avenues that are non-toxic to healthy cells and tissues. This Perspective underscores the importance of comparative oncology, emphasizes its relevance, and showcases recent breakthroughs in identifying natural cancer resistance mechanisms and opportunities for clinical translation. We advocate for a better integration of cancer research on non-conventional model species into oncology and we urge enhanced cooperation between clinicians and comparative oncologists to advance cancer prevention or treatment strategies. Comparative oncology combines evolutionary biology, ecology, veterinary medicine and clinical oncology to better understand cancer, for example, by identifying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the remarkable cancer resistance of some taxa. Therefore, this Perspective by Vincze et al. calls for the increased use of non-conventional model organisms in cancer research to advance cancer prevention and treatment strategies.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 9","pages":"740-748"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144500614","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}
Sung-Min Hwang, Shiun Chang, Paulo C. Rodriguez, Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz
{"title":"Endoplasmic reticulum stress responses in anticancer immunity","authors":"Sung-Min Hwang, Shiun Chang, Paulo C. Rodriguez, Juan R. Cubillos-Ruiz","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00836-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00836-5","url":null,"abstract":"The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has a central role in processes essential for mounting effective and durable antitumour immunity; this includes regulating protein synthesis, folding, modification and trafficking in immune cells. However, the tumour microenvironment imposes hostile conditions that disrupt ER homeostasis in both malignant and infiltrating immune cells, leading to chronic activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Dysregulated ER stress responses have emerged as critical modulators of cancer progression and immune escape, influencing the initiation, development and maintenance of antitumour immunity. In this Review, we examine how tumour-induced ER stress reshapes the functional landscape of immune cells within the tumour microenvironment. We highlight recent discoveries demonstrating how ER stress curtails endogenous antitumour immunity and reduces the efficacy of immunotherapies. Furthermore, we underscore novel therapeutic strategies targeting ER stress sensors or UPR components to restore immune function and enhance cancer immunotherapy outcomes. Together, this provides a comprehensive overview of the interplay between ER stress responses and antitumour immunity, emphasizing the potential of UPR-targeted interventions to improve immune control of cancer. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has a central role in mounting effective and durable antitumour immunity. In this Review, Hwang et al. outline how tumour-induced ER stress responses alter the function of intratumoural immune cells and the efficacy of immunotherapy, highlighting the potential of unfolded protein response-targeted interventions to improve cancer outcomes.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 9","pages":"684-702"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144370444","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":"Expanding the utility of precision oncology knowledge bases","authors":"Sarah Suehnholz, Debyani Chakravarty","doi":"10.1038/s41568-025-00846-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41568-025-00846-3","url":null,"abstract":"Precision oncology knowledge bases currently provide cancer clinicians with a point-of-care interpretation of the therapeutic actionability of somatic genomic sequencing results. Here, we discuss key deficiencies in these knowledge bases that present as opportunities for the next generation of data annotation. Precision oncology knowledge bases provide cancer clinicians with a point-of-care interpretation of the therapeutic actionability of clinical genomic sequencing results. These knowledge bases are now positioned to expand beyond the annotation of individual somatic molecular alterations, however, important gaps remain. Here, Suehnholz and Chakravarty discuss key deficiencies in current precision oncology knowledge bases that present opportunities for the next generation of data annotation.","PeriodicalId":19055,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Cancer","volume":"25 9","pages":"651-652"},"PeriodicalIF":66.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144341219","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}