cancer

A team of researchers in South Korea has analysed the oral and faecal microbiomes of just over 507 volunteers and has concluded that, in patients with gastric and colorectal cancer, there is a greater transfer of microbes from the mouth to the gut. Furthermore, not only does this transfer differ between tumour types, but, according to their findings, an analysis based on oral samples is capable of detecting colorectal cancer with greater sensitivity than the standard faecal occult blood test. However, “before it can be used in practice, clinical trials would need to be carried out in real-world screening populations”, the authors explain. The study is published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

In a press release, the pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck have announced the results of their ongoing Phase 3 INTerpath-001 clinical trial, which is evaluating an mRNA vaccine (intismeran) in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with completely resected Stage IIB–IV melanoma. There is as yet no scientific publication containing data on improved survival or a reduction in recurrence.

Even though we know it is important to protect ourselves from the sun to reduce the risk of skin cancer, the incidence of melanoma is on the rise in Spain. Why? How common and dangerous is this form of cancer? How can it be treated? In this article, we address key questions about this disease, drawing on expert sources.

A study published in JAMA Network Open has examined whether the colorectal cancer screening programme based on faecal immunochemical testing, launched in the Basque Country, was associated with lower mortality from this cause over a 21-year period. The study — a retrospective, population-based cohort study — included all residents of the Basque Country (2.2 million people) between 2004 and 2024. The screening programme, aimed at people aged between 50 and 69, was launched in 2009. According to the study, screening was associated with a 50 per cent reduction in mortality from this cause among adults in that age group. Furthermore, a significant change in the trend was observed just three years after the programme began.

Since 2012, a population of brown catfish in a lake between Canada and the United States has been observed to have a very high incidence of melanoma, a tumor generally associated with sun exposure. Now, a team from Vermont (USA) has discovered that, in this case, it is a transmissible cancer that spreads from fish to fish like a parasite. This finding represents the fourth known transmissible cancer in the animal kingdom and the first in any species of fish or freshwater animal; previous examples include facial tumor disease in Tasmanian devils, a venereal tumor in dogs, and leukemia-like transmissible diseases in clams, mussels, and other bivalve mollusks. The researchers published their results in Nature and emphasize that the disease poses no known risk to humans.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common form of pancreatic cancer, is an aggressive tumor that is often diagnosed at advanced stages. Some people are at high risk of developing it due to a hereditary predisposition (10% of cases) or an injury. A new Phase 1 clinical trial has tested, in high-risk patients, a vaccine targeting several mutations in the KRAS gene responsible for more than 90% of these tumors. The vaccine has been shown to be safe and has stimulated specific immune responses, detectable in the blood up to two years later, in 90% of the study participants. The study is published in Cancer Discovery.

On TikTok, the vast majority (86.8 %) of videos about sunscreen promote its use, according to a content analysis of 971 of the most-viewed videos on this topic on the platform. However, the minority (6 per cent) of videos that criticise these products generate more engagement (likes, comments and shares) on TikTok, the authors warn. This misinformation stems from “small but highly influential numbers of content producers, whose shock-provoking and “sticky” content can generate considerably and disproportionately greater attention or interaction among some viewers”, they write in PLoS Digital Health.

Formaldehyde is a preservative used on human tissue; inhaling it has harmful health effects and it is considered a human carcinogen. A study published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine shows that airborne concentrations of this compound in most pathological anatomy departments of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) are rarely monitored and regularly exceed the occupational exposure limits set by the European Union (EU): seven out of 10 departments exceeded the eight-hour maximum exposure limit set by the EU.

An international team has published the five-year follow-up results of a phase 2b clinical trial testing a personalised cancer vaccine in combination with standard immunotherapy treatment for melanoma. After this period, the probability of cancer recurrence was around 50% lower in the group of patients who received the vaccine. Furthermore, the probability of metastasis was almost 60% lower. The results are being presented at the ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) conference and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Given current vaccination and cervical cancer screening campaigns, high-income countries could eliminate this disease by around 2048, according to a study published in The Lancet. However, the incidence of this cancer in low- and middle-income countries would decline by only 23% over this period if current trends continue, the article states. Elimination is defined as an incidence of fewer than four cases per 100,000 women.