Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-06-06DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.006
Antoine Galmiche, Zuzana Saidak, Cliona C Kirwan
{"title":"Advancing cancer precision surgery with the tumor coagulome.","authors":"Antoine Galmiche, Zuzana Saidak, Cliona C Kirwan","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Solid tumors generate a local and systemic procoagulant state, placing cancer patients at risk of hemostatic complications. The interplay between the tumor coagulome, a tumor-intrinsic determinant, and surgery-induced coagulopathy may influence the risk of recurrence following complete surgical resection. Perioperative targeting of the coagulome could advance cancer precision treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144249797","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.012
Zihan Xia, Olivier De Wever
{"title":"The plasticity of cancer-associated fibroblasts.","authors":"Zihan Xia, Olivier De Wever","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The plasticity of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) refers to their ability to adopt a spectrum of distinct phenotypes or states in response to dynamic changes within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Recent advances in single-cell technologies have enabled detailed characterization of the heterogeneity and spatial complexity of CAF subpopulations across multiple tumor types. Notably, CAF subtypes undergo dynamic transitions during tumor progression and therapy pressure. This review systematically summarizes the current knowledge on CAF plasticity shaped by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, delineates research gaps, and highlights CAF phenotypic switching as a potential therapeutic opportunity.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144235350","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-06-03DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.003
Jessica L Chitty, Thomas R Cox
{"title":"The extracellular matrix in cancer: from understanding to targeting.","authors":"Jessica L Chitty, Thomas R Cox","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Significant advances in matrix biology research have enhanced our understanding of individual matrix components and extracellular matrix (ECM) signalling. The dysregulation of the ECM during the development of solid tumours is a critical area of investigation. Despite recent progress, further investigation into the role of the ECM in cancer progression and therapeutic targeting remains essential for improving outcomes. This study is especially relevant for ECM-rich cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, which is characterised by dense fibrosis that impacts all stages of tumour development, including initiation, progression, and chemoresistance. Currently, no matrix-targeting agents have achieved mainstream clinical implementation. Challenges in this field include insufficient integration of new technologies, and limited understanding of cross disciplinary influences and of the complex, multifunctional nature of the ECM. In this review, we highlight key areas of matrix biology research that are crucial for advancing cancer treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144226864","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-28DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.004
John B Haanen
{"title":"Treatment of patients with pMMR GI cancers with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL): a reality?","authors":"John B Haanen","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A recent study published in Nature Medicine shows that adoptive cell therapy using neoantigen-selected tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) is feasible in refractory metastatic gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, showing durable responses, especially when combined with anti-PD-1. Despite low tumor mutational burden (TMB), enriched neoantigen-reactive TIL improved objective response rates (ORR), highlighting the role of the tumor microenvironment and supporting further clinical development.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144183314","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-26DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.011
Yuefan Wang, Ramon U Jin, Joanne Xu, Ding Chiao Lin, Zhenyu Sun, Yuanwei Xu, Qing K Li, Hui Zhang
{"title":"Harnessing technologies to unravel gastric cancer heterogeneity.","authors":"Yuefan Wang, Ramon U Jin, Joanne Xu, Ding Chiao Lin, Zhenyu Sun, Yuanwei Xu, Qing K Li, Hui Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gastric cancer arises from complex carcinogenic factor interactions, with limited treatment options due to the lack of targetable driver gene mutations and significant tumor heterogeneity. Recent studies have provided promising novel approaches to improve our understanding of gastric cancer heterogeneity through integrated characterization, combining genomics with emerging technologies. Delineating the molecular changes and targeting specific molecular subtypes will enhance the efficacy of gastric cancer treatment and improve clinical outcomes. This review provides a comprehensive overview of current technologies used in gastric cancer research, highlighting key discoveries and treatment strategies driven by these innovations. Finally, we discuss the emerging technology-guided directions and potential breakthroughs that could enhance the understanding of gastric cancer tumor heterogeneity, ultimately improving clinical outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144161113","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-26DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.014
Pedro Berraondo, Raquel Cuesta, Fernando Aranda, Ana Martinez-Riaño, Iñaki Eguren-Santamaria, Carlos Luri-Rey, Aline Risson, Ana Melero, Gabriel Gomis, Ignacio Melero
{"title":"Immunocytokines and cytokine neutralization for cancer immunotherapy.","authors":"Pedro Berraondo, Raquel Cuesta, Fernando Aranda, Ana Martinez-Riaño, Iñaki Eguren-Santamaria, Carlos Luri-Rey, Aline Risson, Ana Melero, Gabriel Gomis, Ignacio Melero","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite deep and growing knowledge of cytokine functions, immunotherapies based on the control of these molecules have minimally impacted cancer patient management because of limited efficacy and narrow therapeutic windows. Opportunities to enhance efficacy and mitigate side effects arise from local delivery and targeting antitumor cytokines to tumor tissue via chimeric fusion with antibodies (immunocytokines). Conversely, neutralization of protumor cytokines using antibodies, cytokine traps, or receptor antagonists offer the opportunity to increase the efficacy of conventional immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors while reducing their side effects. Exploiting the immunobiology of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, and IL-21 in synergistic combinations with other treatments holds promise. The antagonistic neutralization of transforming growth factor-β, tumor necrosis factor, IL-1, IL-6, and CXCR1/2 chemokines and growth differentiation factor 15 also seems to be very convenient, again as part of combination strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144161135","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-19DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.002
Ayoub Jaa, Aitziber Buque
{"title":"Novel metabolic routes to cancer immune evasion.","authors":"Ayoub Jaa, Aitziber Buque","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.05.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The tumor microenvironment (TME) comprises heterogeneous cell types that closely interact with each other. Crosstalk among the TME components determines antitumor immune responses and their sensitivity to therapies such as immunotherapy. Recent studies published in Cancer Cell by Tang et al. and Zhu et al. identify two novel metabolic adaptations that tumors use to facilitate immune evasion. These targetable mechanisms suggest new avenues to improve antitumor immune responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144112223","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-19DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.009
Katharin Shaw, René Bernards, Kimberly Stegmaier, Harold Varmus, William R Sellers
{"title":"Prospects for understanding and exploiting the consequences of hyperactivation lethality.","authors":"Katharin Shaw, René Bernards, Kimberly Stegmaier, Harold Varmus, William R Sellers","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer cells optimize oncogenic signaling to maintain a defined range for survival. The success of targeted therapeutic inhibitors is based on suppressing signaling below this optimal fitness zone. Conversely, cancers are also susceptible to a clinically underutilized vulnerability - oncogenic hyperactivation. Cytotoxic hyperactivation is observed across diverse cancers, with direct small-molecule activators and inhibitors of negative regulators inducing lethal pathway activation. Deep characterization of the cancer genome and unbiased screening approaches have yielded multiple targets vulnerable to hyperactivation; however, translation into the clinical setting will require defining signaling thresholds, discovering biomarkers, and developing appropriate trial designs. By exploiting cancer's intrinsic vulnerabilities, activation lethality offers a promising therapeutic strategy to expand the treatment landscape and overcome resistance to targeted inhibition.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144112246","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-16DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.015
Matthew R Kudek, Jacob J Adashek, Razelle Kurzrock
{"title":"Ag(e)nostic precision oncology therapy approvals across the years.","authors":"Matthew R Kudek, Jacob J Adashek, Razelle Kurzrock","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Precision oncology leverages targetable molecular aberrations to treat cancer. Initially, use of these therapies required biomarker detection in a specific tumor type. Recently, regulatory agencies have approved highly active biomarker-based, tumor-agnostic therapies, which are crucial for the unmet needs of patients with rare cancer, including children with cancer, because an infrequent biomarker in an already rare cancer represents a prohibitive clinical trial accrual barrier. There are also now several 'ag(e)nostic' precision oncology therapies - agnostic to tumor type and also approved for all ages. In this opinion, we provide historical context for the precision oncology field and contend that, moving forward, ag(e)nostic precision oncology approvals should be the norm for this class of therapeutics rather than an exception to the rule.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144249798","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}
Trends in cancerPub Date : 2025-05-16DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.016
Norihiro Goto, Judith Agudo, Ömer H Yilmaz
{"title":"Early immune evasion in colorectal cancer: interplay between stem cells and the tumor microenvironment.","authors":"Norihiro Goto, Judith Agudo, Ömer H Yilmaz","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.04.016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Most colorectal cancers (CRCs) are characterized by a low mutational burden and an immune-cold microenvironment, limiting the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies. While advanced tumors exhibit diverse immune evasion mechanisms, emerging evidence suggests that aspects of immune escape arise much earlier, within precancerous lesions. In this review, we discuss how early driver mutations and epigenetic alterations contribute to the establishment of an immunosuppressive microenvironment in CRC. We also highlight the dynamic crosstalk between cancer cells, stromal niche cells, and immune cells driving immune evasion and liver metastasis. A deeper understanding of these early events may guide the development of more effective preventive and therapeutic strategies for CRC.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144094998","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}