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Bodenmiller and colleagues present a method for three-dimensional analysis of tissue architecture using imaging mass cytometry and demonstrate the utility in resolving cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment, in human breast cancer samples.
Ghajar and colleagues report that astrocyte-deposited laminin-211 promotes the quiescence of disseminated tumor cells in the brain, in a manner dependent on the cytoplasmic sequestration of YAP by dystroglycan.
Zhang and colleagues analyzed patients with lung cancer treated with anti-PD-1 with single-cell methods, finding the presence of precursor exhausted T cells in responders that accumulated through local expansion and clonal revival from peripheral T cells.
A genome-wide CRISPR screen finds CIP2A as a new synthetic lethal target for BRCA1- and BRCA2-deficient cells. Unlike PARP inhibition that increases replication-induced DNA double-strand breaks and radial chromosomes, depleting CIP2A or disrupting its interaction with TOPBP1 increases micronuclei and chromosomal missegregation, revealing a mitotic target for BRCA-mutated tumors.
Rapid progress in the molecular characterization of cancer genomes has been enabled by technology and computational analysis, and large databases now exist. Novel cancer therapeutics have resulted that more precisely target the vulnerabilities revealed by genomic analysis. Emergent efforts that link the two, using machine learning approaches and circulating DNA from cancer cells, are furthering cancer diagnosis and precision medicine.
The rapid progression of KRAS(G12C) inhibitors from preclinical characterization to the clinic has radically changed the perception of the KRAS oncogene as an undruggable target. Here we discuss ongoing and future possibilities for developing therapies using these inhibitors in clinical settings.
In our Focus on 2021 in Review, the Nature Cancer team and leading experts look back at the biggest developments for the cancer field over the past 12 months.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted cancer care globally, the consequences of which are still not well understood. Through the lens of the impact in India, we emphasize the importance of continuing cancer care even during extenuating public health circumstances, and of strengthening health systems as a global priority.
Combination of approved immune checkpoint inhibitors has shown remarkable efficacy in the treatment of melanoma, but at the cost of high toxicity. After years of intensive research, inhibitors of the immune checkpoint molecule LAG-3 are now demonstrating promising results and favorable toxicity profiles in clinical trials in combination with inhibition of the checkpoint molecule PD-1.