{"title":"Ketogenic diet inhibits glioma progression by promoting gut microbiota-derived butyrate production","authors":"Ming-Liang Chen, Ying He, Xun-Hu Dong, Hao-Fei Liu, Ze-Xuan Yan, Xiao-Lu Lu, Qing-Qing Miao, Qing-Ning Zhao, Hang Zhang, Li Luo, Shuai Wang, Jing-Yuan Li, Dong-Fang Xiang, Yong Lin, Tian-Ran Li, Xin-Yue Zhou, Yang-Yang Zhou, Min Mao, Xia Zhang, Hong Wei, Xiu-Wu Bian","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"The ketogenic diet (KD) is a potential therapeutic strategy for glioma; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we first identify that glioma patients exhibit a distinct gut microbial profile characterized by reduced butyrate-producing bacteria abundance, particularly <em>R</em>. <em>faecis</em>, along with decreased butyrate levels. Notably, KD reshapes the gut microbiota especially enriching <em>A</em>. <em>muciniphila</em> in a mucin-2-dependent manner, elevates butyrate production, and activates caspase-3 in microglia. These changes promote an anti-tumor microglial phenotype, ultimately suppressing glioma progression in mice. Crucially, KD’s anti-glioma effect is notably abolished by antibiotics treatment; germ-free condition; or specific depletion of mucin-2, microglia, or microglial caspase-3. Furthermore, butyrate, <em>A</em>. <em>muciniphila</em>, <em>R</em>. <em>faecis</em>, or <em>A</em>. <em>muciniphila</em> plus <em>R</em>. <em>faecis</em> restores KD-induced microglial caspase-3 activation and the anti-tumor phenotype of microglia in antibiotics-treated or germ-free mice. These findings highlight that targeting the gut microbiota by KD or supplementing with butyrate could be an effective strategy for glioma therapy.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145134336","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-09-25DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.001
Xiongfeng Chen, Zhuan Zhou, Luyu Xie, Kailiang Qiao, Yiyue Jia, Shunheng Liu, Zeynep Yazgan, Francesca Rossi, Yang Liu, Bo Zhang, Patricio M. Polanco, Herbert J. Zeh, Alex C. Kim, Huocong Huang
{"title":"Single-cell resolution spatial analysis of antigen-presenting cancer-associated fibroblast niches","authors":"Xiongfeng Chen, Zhuan Zhou, Luyu Xie, Kailiang Qiao, Yiyue Jia, Shunheng Liu, Zeynep Yazgan, Francesca Rossi, Yang Liu, Bo Zhang, Patricio M. Polanco, Herbert J. Zeh, Alex C. Kim, Huocong Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies identify a unique subtype of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) termed antigen-presenting CAFs (apCAFs), which remain poorly understood. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the origin and function of apCAFs, we construct a fibroblast molecular atlas across 15 types of tissues and solid tumors. Our integration study unexpectedly reveals two distinct apCAF populations present in most cancer types: one associated with mesothelial-like cells and the other with fibrocytes. Using a high-resolution single-cell spatial imaging platform, we characterize the spatial niches of these apCAF populations. We find that mesothelial-like apCAFs are located near cancer cells, while fibrocyte-like apCAFs are associated with lymphocyte-enriched niches. Additionally, we discovered that both apCAF populations can up-regulate secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), which facilitates primary tumor formation, peritoneal metastasis, and therapy resistance. Taken together, this study offers an unprecedented resolution in analyzing apCAFs and their spatial niches.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145134338","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-09-25DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.003
Lei Ren, Chunfeng Liu, Kaan Çifcibaşı, Markus Ballmann, Gerhard Rammes, Carmen Mota Reyes, Sergey Tokalov, Andreas Klingl, Jennifer Grünert, Keshav Goyal, Peter H. Neckel, Ulrich Mattheus, Benjamin Schoeps, Saliha Elif Yıldızhan, Osman Ugur Sezerman, Nedim Can Cevik, Elif Arik Sever, Didem Karakas, Okan Safak, Katja Steiger, Ihsan Ekin Demir
{"title":"Sensory neurons drive pancreatic cancer progression through glutamatergic neuron-cancer pseudo-synapses","authors":"Lei Ren, Chunfeng Liu, Kaan Çifcibaşı, Markus Ballmann, Gerhard Rammes, Carmen Mota Reyes, Sergey Tokalov, Andreas Klingl, Jennifer Grünert, Keshav Goyal, Peter H. Neckel, Ulrich Mattheus, Benjamin Schoeps, Saliha Elif Yıldızhan, Osman Ugur Sezerman, Nedim Can Cevik, Elif Arik Sever, Didem Karakas, Okan Safak, Katja Steiger, Ihsan Ekin Demir","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"Cancers thrive on neuronal input. Here, we demonstrate the presence of pseudo-synaptic connections between sensory nerve endings and cancer cells in an extracerebral cancer, i.e., pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). These synaptic sites exhibit a selective enrichment of the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) receptor subunit NMDAR2D (GRIN2D) on the cancer cells, which turns PDAC cells responsive to neuron-derived glutamate and promotes tumor growth and spread. Intriguingly, neurons transform a subset of co-cultured PDAC cells into calcium-responsive cells via GRIN2D-type glutamate receptors at the neuron-cancer pseudo-synapses. We found that the expression of this subunit is due to the increased glutamate availability provided by sensory innervation in a neurotrophic feedforward loop. Moreover, interference with the glutamate-GRIN2D signaling at these neuron-cancer pseudo-synapses markedly improved survival <em>in vivo</em>. This discovery of peripheral cancer-neuron pseudo-synapses may provide an opportunity for cancer-neuroscience-instructed oncological therapies.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145134337","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.008
Aziz Taghbalout, Chia-Hao Tung, Patricia A. Clow, Harianto Tjong, Ping Wang, Chee Hong Wong, Diane D. Mao, Rahul Maurya, Meng-Fan Huang, Chew Yee Ngan, Albert H. Kim, Chia-Lin Wei
{"title":"Extrachromosomal DNA associates with nuclear condensates and reorganizes chromatin structures to enhance oncogenic transcription","authors":"Aziz Taghbalout, Chia-Hao Tung, Patricia A. Clow, Harianto Tjong, Ping Wang, Chee Hong Wong, Diane D. Mao, Rahul Maurya, Meng-Fan Huang, Chew Yee Ngan, Albert H. Kim, Chia-Lin Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.008","url":null,"abstract":"Extrachromosomal, circular DNA (ecDNA) is a prevalent oncogenic alteration in cancer genomes, often associated with aggressive tumor behavior and poor patient outcome. While previous studies proposed a chromatin-based mobile enhancer model for ecDNA-driven oncogenesis, its precise mechanism and impact remains unclear across diverse cancer types. Our study, utilizing advanced multi-omics profiling, epigenetic editing, and imaging approaches in three cancer models, reveals that ecDNA hubs are an integrated part of nuclear condensates and exhibit cancer-type specific chromatin connectivity. Epigenetic silencing of the ecDNA-specific regulatory modules or chemically disrupting nuclear condensates breaks down ecDNA hubs, displaces MED1 co-activator binding, inhibits oncogenic transcription, and promotes cell death. These findings substantiate the <em>trans</em>-activator function of ecDNA and underscore a structural mechanism driving oncogenesis. This refined understanding expands our views of oncogene regulation and opens potential avenues for alternative therapeutic strategies in cancer treatment.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145078557","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.007
Aline Pfefferle, Karl-Johan Malmberg
{"title":"Rewiring natural killer cells for next-generation cancer therapies","authors":"Aline Pfefferle, Karl-Johan Malmberg","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"Harnessing the cytotoxic potential of natural killer (NK) cells for cancer immunotherapy has proven challenging. In this issue of <em>Cancer Cell</em>, Biederstädt et al. and Nikolic et al. utilize genome-wide CRISPR screening to uncover novel regulators of NK cell function, paving the way for developing next-generation NK cell therapies.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"105 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145078555","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.009
Simona Migliozzi, Bruno Adabbo, Luciano Garofano, Fan Wu, Pedro Davila, Ricardo J. Komotar, Michael E. Ivan, Ashish H. Shah, Benjamin B. Currall, Sion Williams, Daniel Bilbao Cortes, Melinda Minucci Boone, Macarena I. de la Fuente, Sakir H. Gultekin, Michele Ceccarelli, Antonio Iavarone, Anna Lasorella
{"title":"Restraint of cancer cell plasticity by spatial homotypic clustering","authors":"Simona Migliozzi, Bruno Adabbo, Luciano Garofano, Fan Wu, Pedro Davila, Ricardo J. Komotar, Michael E. Ivan, Ashish H. Shah, Benjamin B. Currall, Sion Williams, Daniel Bilbao Cortes, Melinda Minucci Boone, Macarena I. de la Fuente, Sakir H. Gultekin, Michele Ceccarelli, Antonio Iavarone, Anna Lasorella","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.009","url":null,"abstract":"Tumor heterogeneity fueled by plasticity of cancer cells is a key to therapy failure. Here, we define the role of proximal communications of malignant cells in glioblastoma plasticity. We find that tumor cell state coherence is maximal in cells organized in homotypic clusters with defined relationships with non-malignant cells, whereas randomly dispersed cells downregulate the original state, acquire alternative phenotypes and exhibit changes in the microenvironment. We demonstrate the intrinsic propensity of glioblastoma cells to develop into clustered and dispersed spatial patterns in orthotopic mouse models and experimentally validate the cell state-specific mechanisms of cell-cell adhesion that prevent phenotype deviation with pharmacologic perturbations in patients-derived glioblastoma models. We establish the generality of “homotypic clustered cell identity” in circulating clustered and single breast cancer cells and show that the glioblastoma glycolytic-plurimetabolic dispersed cellular state uniquely confers shorter survival, thus assigning clinical significance to the spatial patterning of cancer cells in human tumors.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145078556","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-09-11DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.004
Tristan Courau, Arpita Desai, Allon Wagner, Alexis J. Combes, Matthew F. Krummel
{"title":"The coming era of nudge drugs for cancer","authors":"Tristan Courau, Arpita Desai, Allon Wagner, Alexis J. Combes, Matthew F. Krummel","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"We propose an emerging strategy for advanced cancer treatment based on progressive, stepwise remodeling of tumor microenvironments (TMEs). TMEs are variable but show conserved archetypes across patients and tissue origins. Deep learning over single-cell atlases collected from perturbed tumors can uncover gene and cellular networks shifting between archetypes. This allows for designing “nudge” or “state-shifting” drugs whose sequential application achieves stepwise transformation of a TME from an adverse to a more favorable state, dismantling deleterious tumor-host interactions to achieve patient remission.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145043290","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":"Protein-based classification reveals an immune-hot subtype in IDH mutant astrocytoma with worse prognosis","authors":"Jihong Tang, Wenhua Fan, Yuyan Ruan, Xing Liu, Fufang Qiu, Jie Feng, Guoshi Huang, Mengli Yan, Hui Wang, Quanhua Mu, Ran Liu, Yingxi Yang, Zhi Huang, Yimeng Qiao, Xuejie Wang, Yumeng Guo, Mingchen Yu, Ying Zhang, Ruichao Chai, Fan Wu, Jiguang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"Intertumoral heterogeneity complicates treatment of IDH-mutant astrocytoma. We analyze spatiotemporal multi-omics data and discover four clusters: adipogenesis/fatty-acid-metabolism (AFM), proliferative/progenitor (PPR), immune/mesenchymal-enriched (IME), and neuronal (NEU). PPR and IME are associated with poorer prognosis, a result validated in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and a Chinese cohort of 273 IDH-mutant astrocytomas. Longitudinal analysis of 189 initial-recurrent pairs shows an evolutionary shift toward PPR/IME subtypes. Mechanistically, PPR is enriched for <em>CDKN2A/B</em> deletions, whereas IME features increased gemistocytic differentiation (GD) and infiltration by exhausted T cells and plasma cells. Spatial multi-omics link GD morphology to mesenchymal-like (MES-like) tumor cell aggregates and lymphocyte-rich niches. MES-like tumor cells in IME overexpress interferon-stimulated genes such as <em>GBP1</em>, which we show promotes proliferation and migration. Finally, we develop an AI-powered classifier for patient stratification. Our work delineates protein-based clustering of IDH-mutant astrocytoma and reveals an immune-hot subgroup that may inform therapeutic development.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145043279","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.001
Yuefan Wang, Tung-Shing M. Lih, Jae W. Lee, Takao Ohtsuka, Yuto Hozaka, Mari Mino-Kenudson, Nazmi Volkan Adsay, Claudio Luchini, Aldo Scarpa, Ajay V. Maker, Grace E. Kim, Jorge Paulino, Lijun Chen, Jongmin Woo, Liyuan Jiao, Zhenyu Sun, Davina Goodman, Michael J. Pflüger, Nicholas J. Roberts, Hanno Matthaei, Ralph H. Hruban
{"title":"Multi-omic profiling of intraductal papillary neoplasms of the pancreas reveals distinct patterns and potential markers of progression","authors":"Yuefan Wang, Tung-Shing M. Lih, Jae W. Lee, Takao Ohtsuka, Yuto Hozaka, Mari Mino-Kenudson, Nazmi Volkan Adsay, Claudio Luchini, Aldo Scarpa, Ajay V. Maker, Grace E. Kim, Jorge Paulino, Lijun Chen, Jongmin Woo, Liyuan Jiao, Zhenyu Sun, Davina Goodman, Michael J. Pflüger, Nicholas J. Roberts, Hanno Matthaei, Ralph H. Hruban","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"To enable early detection of pancreatic cancer from precancerous lesions, we analyze proteins and glycoproteins from 64 intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs), 55 cyst fluid samples, 104 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs), and various types of normal samples using mass spectrometry. High-grade IPMNs show enrichment of glycosylation level and tumor progression pathways compared to low-grade lesions. High-grade IPMN associated proteins, such as PLOD3, IRS2, LGALS9, and Trop-2, are identified and validated using immunolabeling and laser microdissection. Some high-grade associated proteins are also detected in pancreatic cyst fluids, which allows us to link proteins and glycoproteins expressed in neoplastic cells to clinically accessible biospecimens. Altered glycosylation level of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins is observed in IPMNs compared to normal ducts. Additionally, we identify a subset of IPMNs with PDAC-like features, including elevated expression of ECM proteins. These findings offer insight into progression-associated proteins and emphasize the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of these proteins in pancreatic tumors.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144911219","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}
Cancer CellPub Date : 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.003
Yen Vu, Moran Amit
{"title":"Glioblastoma hijacks cholinergic networks","authors":"Yen Vu, Moran Amit","doi":"10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2025.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"Glioblastoma alters normal brain function by hijacking neural circuits. In this issue of <em>Cancer Cell</em>, Yang et al. elucidate the mechanisms by which glioblastoma exploits cholinergic signaling pathways to disrupt the hierarchical organization of brain networks. These insights help redefine tumor-brain interactions and open new therapeutic avenues.","PeriodicalId":9670,"journal":{"name":"Cancer Cell","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":50.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144911216","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}