Epkinly, a CD20xCD3 bispecific T cell engager jointly developed by AbbVie and Genmab, met its primary endpoint in the Phase 3 EPCORE DLBCL-2 trial. Compared with R-CHOP alone, the Epkinly-based combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 51% in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The trial enrolled 900 patients.
Why it matters: Adding Epkinly to R-CHOP achieved a 51% reduction in disease progression or death risk, allowing direct comparison with prior Phase 3 data for Polivy and Monjuvi in the same indication.
T cells take up vitamin B2 through the transporter SLC52A3, while tumors rely on SLC52A2 to outcompete them for the vitamin, driving T cell ferroptosis. A CRISPR screen of solute carriers identified this transport split. Enforcing SLC52A3 overexpression in T cells reversed the competition and enhanced their antitumor activity.
A chromatin accessibility atlas of 650 gastric tissue samples from pre-cancer to advanced cancer reveals a cancer-like epigenetic priming state in metaplasia that licenses tumor initiation. Advanced cancers split into three epigenomic subtypes; the pseudo-gastric subtype resists immunotherapy through FOSL2-driven H+/K+ ATPase expression, which acidifies the microenvironment and suppresses CD8+ T cells, and the acid blocker vonoprazan reverses this phenotype. It identifies metaplasia as an epigenetically primed precursor and defines a mechanism-based resistant subtype.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 loss creates distinct adaptive states, and the FANCM-RMI1/2 complex determines cell fitness in opposite ways: it is essential in BRCA1-deficient cells but toxic in BRCA2-deficient cells, where it drives replication fork degradation. Disrupting FANCM-RMI1/2 in BRCA2-deficient cells restores genome stability and promotes PARPi resistance, distinguishing how the two deficiencies respond to replication stress.
The final survival analysis of the MAIA study, published in Leukemia, shows daratumumab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone (D-Rd) extends median overall survival by 26.2 months over lenalidomide plus dexamethasone (Rd) in transplant-ineligible newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. With median follow-up of 89.3 months in 737 patients, median OS was 90.3 months with D-Rd versus 64.1 months with Rd, and 7-year OS rates were 53.1% versus 39.3%. The results establish OS, not just progression delay, as a reason to choose D-Rd first-line in this population.
Final MATTERHORN data show that perioperative durvalumab plus FLOT, previously shown to significantly improve event-free survival over FLOT alone in gastroesophageal cancer, also converts that benefit into an overall survival benefit. The Chinese ASTRUM-006 trial separately validates perioperative serplulimab plus SOX in PD-L1-positive disease, establishing perioperative immunochemotherapy globally.
The phase 3 TAISHAN-302 trial tested the anti-B7-H3 antibody-drug conjugate econtambetamab tazepibody (Tam-Peli, YL201) against topotecan in patients with recurrent small cell lung cancer. Professor Zhang Li of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center presented the efficacy and safety results in a plenary session at the 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul on September 13, 2026, with simultaneous publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The data position this ADC against standard topotecan in recurrent SCLC.
CAR-T cells engineered to recognize MPZL1, a surface protein overexpressed because its gene sits in a chromosomal region often amplified in solid tumors, shrank tumors in mice after a single dose. Analysis of 2,200 tumor samples showed cancer cells often express high levels of MPZL1 while healthy tissue expresses much less. In vitro, the CAR-T cells killed liver, breast, lung and pancreatic cancer cells and glioblastoma cells with high MPZL1 density, and infiltrated patient tumor tissue while showing less activity in healthy tissue.
H3K4 methylation primes MYC for amplification by the H3K9/K36 tri-demethylase KDM4C, while the H3K36 tri-methyltransferase SETD2 restrains copy gains. SETD2 loss or inhibition promotes recruitment of catalytically active KDM4C, which initiates stepwise MYC copy gains; suppressing apoptosis or losing TP53 accelerates higher-level amplification, including eccDNAs and inherited copy gains that render non-transformed cells tumorigenic. KDM4C inhibition suppresses MYC amplification, defining a chromatin-apoptotic axis and a potential therapeutic target.
DDIAS acts as an essential single-stranded DNA-binding effector of the CIP2A-TOPBP1 complex, shielding post-replicative ssDNA lesions during mitosis to safeguard genome integrity. Two papers, by Xue et al. in Molecular Cell and Tsukuda et al. in Cell, link this DDIAS function to directing neurogenesis and protecting cancer cells, with implications for human cancer and neurodevelopment.
In 1,038 patients with resectable stage IIIB-D melanoma treated across 26 sites, neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors yielded 5-year recurrence-free survival of 61.0% with PD-1 alone and 73.9% with PD-1 plus another immuno-oncology agent, versus 37.4% with BRAF/MEK inhibitors. Patients achieving a major pathological response had 5-year overall survival of 98.8% and 97.9%, respectively, and gained no benefit from adjuvant ICI continuation. The results define long-term outcomes by regimen and response status.
A study published in JAMA analyzed diagnostic delays that occurred in a screening trial of a multicancer early detection test (DOI: 10.1001/jama.2026.15536). Only the original title is available; the full text was not retrieved.
Boston-based Adecto Pharmaceuticals, which was developing an anti-ADAM8 monoclonal antibody for cancers unresponsive to conventional immunotherapy, ceased operations Sept. 30 after running out of financial runway, CEO Nora Minerva said on LinkedIn; she has filed a provisional patent on the lead antibody and is exploring ways to advance its development. Aviceda Therapeutics is also winding down after its nanoparticle AVD-104 missed the primary endpoint in a December-announced Phase 2b trial in geographic atrophy secondary to AMD, showing no statistical difference versus Astellas's Izervay, derailing two planned Phase 3 studies expected to start this year.
Why it matters: Two Massachusetts biotechs are shutting down, one after a Phase 2b miss, illustrating the funding and clinical pressures on early-stage companies.
The FDA has approved Eli Lilly's Jaypirca as a first-line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to STAT News. The approval moves Jaypirca, already known in CLL treatment discussions, into the earlier-line setting. Details of the decision are behind the STAT+ paywall, with further coverage available to subscribers.
On August 26, 2026, the FDA approved daraxonrasib (brand name RASONQUE), developed by Revolution Medicines, for adults with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who have received at least one prior systemic therapy or are unsuitable for multi-drug combination systemic therapy. It is the first FDA-approved RAS(ON) inhibitor worldwide, extending direct RAS inhibition beyond a single mutation subtype to a broader molecular population.
Weekly cisplatin at 40 mg/m2 with 70 Gy radiation did not reduce serious acute toxicity versus 100 mg/m2 every three weeks in 234 patients with p16-negative locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the phase II NRG-HN009 trial. The mean T-score ratio was 1.11 (p=0.77), with T-scores of 2.23 versus 2.48, and six-month locoregional failure was 4.6% versus 9.6%. The cohort did not advance to phase III, leaving the every-three-week schedule unchallenged on toxicity grounds.
An encapsulated cell-based "biologics factory" using an immunomodulatory alginate formulation sustained stable serum titers of the HIV-neutralizing mAb 3BNC117 for 1 year in immunocompetent mice, supported by an anti-inflammatory, proresolving immune niche that attenuates fibrosis. The platform produced 13 diverse mAbs from an allogeneic cell chassis, and in a nonhuman primate subcutaneous implant maintained stable ipilimumab titers for more than 6 months with no detectable toxicity, antidrug antibodies, or adverse events across a three-dose escalation. A retrievable macrodevice allows on-demand termination and dose-proportional tuning, pointing toward replacing frequent injections with single-administration therapy.
NHIS data from 2019 and 2022 show that among U.S. adults aged 27-45, the proportion who had ever received at least 1 dose of HPV vaccine rose from 15.1% to 20.7% (difference 5.6 percentage points, 95% CI 4.03-7.07). In 2022, only 1.43% (95% CI 1.07-1.80) first initiated vaccination between ages 27 and 45.
Agonistic antibodies against TNF receptor superfamily members (CD40, 4-1BB, OX40, GITR) work in the opposite way to checkpoint blockers: receptors must be crosslinked to signal, and overly high Fab affinity hinders effective crosslinking and drives internalization. In a CD40 antibody series, activity rose as Fab affinity fell, peaking at one mutant. Crosslinking is largely provided by Fc binding to activating Fcγ receptors, while the inhibitory receptor FcγRIIB (CD32) restricts it, and hinge engineering offers a route to optimization.
David Tuveson of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory gave a CSHL Leading Strand lecture on pancreatic cancer biology, covering how oncogenic mutations drive epigenomic and microenvironmental change. He described atypical WNT7 activation that drives fibroblast overactivation and matrix production, RAS dependence on farnesylated membrane localization, and a new target validated genetically in mitochondrial metabolism with antagonist compounds designed using cryo-EM. His group uses organoids, single-cell data and in vivo metabolite perturbations such as auxin to find and test targets.
