Emotional distress disrupts cancer meds

What matters in cancer | 

View this email in your browser Thursday 23 May 2024

Hello Nature readers, This week, we hear that emotional distress is linked with poor immunotherapy response, explore the effect of ageing on cancer-fighting immune cells and discover how 3M kept the toxicity of 'forever chemicals' a secret for decades.

Emotional distress is four times higher among people with cancer than in the general population. (Filmstax/Getty)

Emotional distress disrupts cancer meds People who experience poor mental health when receiving immunotherapy for lung cancer tend to have worse outcomes. In a study of 227 people with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, the 111 people who experienced anxiety and/or depression were less likely to respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (47% versus 62%) and were less likely to survive over two years (47% versus 65%). Emotional distress could be a 'psycho-biomarker' that predicts immunotherapy success in combination with other factors, say the researchers. Reference: Nature Medicine paper (13 May)

Ageing compromises T-cell control of cancer A study has helped untangle how ageing affects the immune system's ability to fight cancer. Researchers found that immune cells from older mice were less capable of infiltrating tumours than immune cells from younger mice. But when older mice were infused with T cells from younger mice, the cells quickly lost their vigour and became exhausted. The T cells inside aged mice were "functionally, transcriptionally and epigenetically distinct" from other types of exhausted T cells, report the authors. Personalized mRNA vaccines need broader immune-stimulating adjuvants before they can help revitalise T cells in aged mice, the researchers conclude. Reference: Nature Immunology paper (14 May)

Features & opinion

How 3M's secret poisoned a chemist's career In 1997, 3M scientist Kris Hansen was given the job of checking whether the 'forever chemicals' produced by the company were contaminating people's blood. She discovered that fluorochemicals were almost everywhere: the only blood samples that didn't contain them came from rural China, which had been largely untouched by western manufacturing. 3M executives had known since 1979 that fluorochemicals — now known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — could cause harm at high doses in animals. But they kept that information secret from the public — and gaslighted Hansen into believing that PFAS were safe. The New Yorker/ProPublica collaboration | 31 min read

News

Desulfovibrio bacteria have been linked to a suppressed immune system, which can allow breast-cancer tumours to flourish. (PNWL/Alamy)

The fat-gut-cancer link A study in mice and people suggests why there is a link between obesity and some cancers: a high-fat diet increases the number of Desulfovibrio bacteria in the gut. These release leucine, an amino acid, which encourages the proliferation of a kind of cell that suppresses the immune system. With a suppressed immune system, breast cancer tumour growth increases. "It's a provocative finding that will open up new avenues that we should be thinking about," says nutritional biologist Stephen Hursting. Nature | 3 min read Reference: PNAS paper (6 May)

In the news Scientists have discovered how to preserve breast tissue in gel for at least a week. The tissue can be used to test the effectiveness of different drugs against breast tumours. (The Guardian | 4 min read) Reference: Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia paper The US Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to tarlatamab-dlle (Imdelltra) for the treatment of advanced small-cell lung cancer. (CNBC | 5 min read) Rates of cervical cancer were 84% lower in women given the human papillomavirus vaccine than those who were not, an analysis of English women shows. (BBC | 3 min read) Reference: British Medical Journal paper Use of talcum powder on the genitals is associated with an increased chance of developing ovarian cancer, suggests a study of over 50,000 at-risk women. Tens of thousands of women are suing Johnson & Johnson over cancers allegedly caused by its talcum-powder products. (NBC | 7 min read) Reference: Journal of Clinical Oncology paper

Infographic of the week

Higher levels of formate in the blood could be a sign of cancer. This chemical is a byproduct of cancer-cell metabolism. It makes cancer more invasive and modulates the body's immune response. (Nature Cancer | 39 min read) (Younghwan Lee et al./Nature Cancer)

Quote of the week "In defence of cancer, it kills itself too." Science communicator Hank Green was successfully treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma last year, and now makes regular wisecracks about cancer on Twitter.

I never thought it was particularly likely that ancient Egyptians hauled massive blocks of stone through the desert to build the pyramids. Now, analyses of dried-up riverbeds suggest that a long-lost branch of the river Nile may have played a role in the construction. "The pyramids seem like pretty monumental work," says geoarchaeologist Judith Bunbury. "But it's less arduous if you can bring big stones up by boat rather than carrying them over land." Lighten my load by sending tips and feedback to cancerbriefing@nature.com. Thanks for reading, Felicity Nelson, editor, Nature Briefing: Cancer With contributions by Sara Phillips

Want more? Update your preferences to sign up to our other free Nature Briefing newsletters: Nature Briefing — our flagship daily e-mail: the wider world of science, in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee Nature Briefing: Microbiology — the most abundant living entities on our planet – microorganisms – and the role they play in health, the environment and food systems. Nature Briefing: Anthropocene — climate change, biodiversity, sustainability and geoengineering Nature Briefing: AI & Robotics — 100% written by humans, of course Nature Briefing: Translational Research covers biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma Please visit your preferences page to choose which Nature Briefing newsletters to receive (or to unsubscribe).

ACCESS NATURE AND 54 OTHER NATURE JOURNALS Nature+ is our most affordable 30-day subscription, giving you online access to a wide range of specialist Nature Portfolio journals, including Nature. Nature+ is for personal use and is suitable for students. Learn more about Nature+ in the Americas, in the UK and internationally.

Join our community

You received this newsletter because you subscribed with the email address: gustavo.braslavsky@gmail.com Please add cancerbriefing@nature.com to your address book. Enjoying this newsletter? You can use this form to recommend it to a friend or colleague — thank you! Had enough? To unsubscribe from this Briefing, but keep receiving your other Nature Briefing newsletters, please update your subscription preferences. To stop all Nature Briefing emails forever, click here to remove your personal data from our system. Fancy a bit of a read? View our privacy policy. Forwarded by a friend? Get the Briefing straight to your inbox: subscribe for free. Get more from Nature: Register for free on nature.com to sign up for other newsletters specific to your field and email alerts from Nature Portfolio journals. Nature Portfolio | The Springer Nature Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom Nature Portfolio, part of Springer Nature. © 2024 Springer Nature Limited. All rights reserved.