Red blood cells tether and retain tumor-derived DNA on their surface, forming a distinct circulating pool of RBC-bound tumor DNA (rtDNA), with desialylation increasing capture in a Toll-like receptor 9-dependent manner. In mice bearing lung cancer xenografts, rtDNA was detected in all animals and tracked tumor burden while plasma tumor DNA was undetectable; in patients with lung cancer, most detected mutant tumor DNA was RBC-associated and concordant with matched tumor tissue. The findings challenge the plasma-centric liquid biopsy paradigm by identifying the RBC surface as a tunable reservoir of tumor DNA.
TRexBio raised $116.7 million in its Nasdaq IPO, selling 8.3 million shares at $14 to fund TRB-061, a fusion protein in early-stage development for atopic dermatitis with a Phase 1b topline readout expected mid-2027. Retension Pharmaceuticals raised $45 million at $12 per share to advance RTN-001, a PDE-5 blocker for hypertension, through Phase 2b and into Phase 3. City Therapeutics expects about $158.3 million and Iambic Therapeutics about $135 million from upcoming offerings.
A team led by Yingjie Bian at Guangzhou Medical University reports in Cell that cancer cells take up vitamin B2 to suppress the antitumor function of T cells, and that B2 supplementation can improve immunotherapy outcomes. The background notes that cancer cells compete with T cells for nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and lipids to evade immune surveillance, but which SLC transporters mediate this process was previously unclear.
Why it matters: The article extends tumor-T cell nutrient competition from glucose and amino acids to vitamin B2 and identifies a specific testable metabolic pathway.
A human endogenous retrovirus, HERVH, drives production of the calcium-buffering protein calbindin in embryonic stem cells, and the same pathway had earlier been seen helping cancer cells survive by preventing them from aging. Editing human embryonic stem cells to remove the HERVH switch left cells unhealthy, failing to grow or specializing prematurely, and blastoids and post-gastrulation amnioids lacking HERVH-driven calbindin could not form properly. Primate genome comparisons place the HERVH integration after the split from orangutans, roughly 13 million years ago.
Robot-assisted radical hysterectomy for early-stage cervical cancer produced fewer intraoperative complications than open surgery (5.7% vs 10.0%), but the difference mainly involved less serious events. In the randomized RACC study of 900 patients across European hospitals, complications within 30 days were nearly identical (33.4% vs 34.8%), and overall early recovery and most quality-of-life measures were similar. Recurrence-free survival, the primary outcome, is still being followed.
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) combined with GPC3-targeted CAR-NK cells, made with lipid nanoparticle gene delivery, produced substantially stronger tumor control than either treatment alone in hepatocellular carcinoma. IRE reshaped the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment: chemokine levels rose, recruiting NK cells early, while IRE-induced reactive oxygen species left residual tumor cells more susceptible to NK cell killing. Across multiple preclinical models the combination showed superior tumor suppression and prolonged survival.
A gene expression signature distinguishes malignant mesenchymal neuroblastoma cells, the population linked to high-risk disease and treatment resistance, from healthy mesenchymal cells that had confounded earlier efforts. Built from 54 tumors across 50 patients using single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial omics, the signature improved outcome predictions in an independent tumor database, where a signature from decades-old cell lines did not. Patient-derived xenografts, organoids and new cell lines capturing both cell states are available through the St. Jude Childhood Solid Tumor Network.
Two B7-H3 antibody-drug conjugates delivered Phase III overall survival wins in relapsed small cell lung cancer at the September 2026 WCLC presidential forum in Seoul. Tambotatug pelitecan (YL-201, from MediLink Therapeutics) in TAISHAN-302 and risvutatug rezetecan (HS-20093, from Hansoh/GSK) in ARTEMIS-008 each hit an overall survival hazard ratio of 0.46, rewriting a second-line standard that had held for three decades and putting B7-H3 ADCs in direct contention with DLL3 bispecifics in the same setting.
A CRISPR screen of 17q-gain genes identified the RNA m6A reader IGF2BP1 as a critical MYCN collaborator in aggressive neuroblastoma, acting through activation of PAICS, a key enzyme in de novo purine biosynthesis. PAICS-mediated nucleotide metabolism sustained purine pools for transcription of replicative stress-responsive genes including CHK1. Pharmacological inhibition of CHK1 activated cGAS-STING signaling, upregulated MHC class I expression, and suppressed tumors synergistically with immune checkpoint blockade.
Why it matters: Defines an actionable IGF2BP1/MYCN-PAICS-CHK1 axis linking 17q-gain and MYCN to a purine-metabolism vulnerability and immunotherapy response.
A Dutch court has barred Merck from producing, importing, stocking or selling Keytruda SC, the subcutaneous formulation of Keytruda, in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands, after finding it infringes a Halozyme Therapeutics patent covering MDASE technology. The decision follows a German preliminary injunction in December, and Merck's appeal of that ruling has a hearing expected next month. Subcutaneous Keytruda brought in $463 million of the franchise's $8.4 billion in second-quarter sales, and a key patent expires in 2028.
The FDA approved Pfizer's TUKYSA (tucatinib) combined with trastuzumab and pertuzumab as maintenance therapy after induction treatment for adults with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. The approval extends TUKYSA into the first-line setting and offers a chemotherapy-free maintenance option. According to Pfizer, the regimen reduced the risk of death by 35.9% compared with trastuzumab alone.
The FDA approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq, Genentech) in combination with a fluoropyrimidine and oxaliplatin on October 8, 2026, for adjuvant treatment of Stage III mismatch repair deficient colon cancer in patients two years of age and older, with the subcutaneous Tecentriq Hybreza approved for those 12 years and older weighing 40 kg or greater. In the ATOMIC trial of 711 adults and one pediatric patient, the hazard ratio for disease-free survival was 0.50 versus mFOLFOX6 alone, and median DFS was not reached in either arm. Reviews are ongoing at partner agencies under Project Orbis.
Why it matters: FDA approval of atezolizumab plus chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy for Stage III dMMR colon cancer, with a disease-free survival hazard ratio of 0.50.
AstraZeneca's TROP2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate Datroway (dedatopotamab) has been approved in China for unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer in patients not suitable for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor treatment. In the phase III TROPION-Breast02 study, the drug extended median overall survival by 5 months versus chemotherapy chosen by investigators (hazard ratio = 0.79; 95% confidence interval: 0.64-0.98; p=0.0291), reaching a median OS of nearly two years. It is described as the first and only TROP2 ADC approved for this indication with an OS benefit, and Datroway now has two approved breast cancer indications in China.
Changchun GeneScience Pharmaceutical received NMPA approval, dated 29 September, for its 5.1-class leuprolide mesylate injection (6M), a 42mg ready-to-use in-situ gel depot given subcutaneously every 24 weeks, for prostate cancer requiring androgen deprivation therapy. In a US Phase 3 trial of 137 patients, the 6-monthly 42mg dose achieved a 97% castration rate (testosterone at or below 50ng/dL) at day 28 and through days 28 to 336; a Chinese bridging study at 43 sites in 142 patients showed a 97.9% cumulative probability of maintaining castrate testosterone levels. The product will compete with Livzon's three-month microsphere formulation.
BATF-expressing effector regulatory CD4+ T cells (eTreg cells) accumulate in high-grade premalignant airway lesions, are clonally related to circulating eTreg cells, and rise in peripheral blood as lesions progress, allowing lung tumorigenesis to be tracked by blood analysis. In mice, carcinogen-driven tumorigenesis triggered the same preinvasive eTreg axis, and PI3Kδ inhibition reduced circulating and pulmonary Treg cells, increased cDC1s, and reduced lung tumour incidence and size. The work provides a theranostic framework for intercepting lung cancer before invasion.
Sitagliptin, a diabetes drug, cut the risk of acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by half, according to a randomized controlled trial led by the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. It is described as the first large trial of sitagliptin for aGVHD prevention in transplants from alternative donors.
Allist announced that the FURVENT Phase III trial of furmonertinib as first-line treatment for EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation NSCLC did not meet the primary endpoint of BICR-assessed PFS. The stock fell by its daily limit to 89.26 yuan, with pending sell orders exceeding 3.4 lots in units of ten thousand.
Why it matters: The report specifies the indication and endpoint the Phase III trial missed, letting readers judge the drug's prospects in first-line EGFR exon 20 insertion NSCLC.
