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| Helicobacter pylori are responsible for stomach ulcers and most gastric cancers. (Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library) | |||||
Wiping out H. pylori slashes cancer riskEliminating a common gut microbe could reduce the population-wide risk of gastric cancer. In a long-running randomized trial in China involving more than 180,000 people, half were to receive a 10-day course of antibiotics targeting Helicobacter pylori and half were given drugs to relieve symptoms without treating the underlying infection. Participants given antibiotics had a 13% lower risk of gastric cancer over the next 12 years. This risk dropped by 19% in people who had the H. pylori bacteria completely eradicated from their body. "We could reasonably expect to prevent >85,000 incident gastric cancer cases annually in China by H. pylori treatment," write the researchers. Science | 5 min readReference: Nature Medicine paper (30 July) | |||||
Nausea drug breaks nerve-cancer allianceThe sensory nerves responsible for touch, taste, sight and smell help breast cancer infiltrate other regions of the body — but an anti-nausea drug already in use might block this interaction. Researchers found that growing sensory neurons next to mouse cancer cells caused them to produce a molecule called substance P. This neuropeptide is also present in high levels in human breast tumours that have spread to the lymph nodes. An anti-nausea medication called aprepitant, which is used to treat chemotherapy side-effects, blocks this nerve-cancer interaction in mice and cell cultures, slowing the spread of cancer. Nature | 4 min readRead more about the wave of discoveries connecting cancer with the nervous system (Nature | 11 min read, from January, Nature paywall). Reference: Nature paper (7 August) | |||||
WGS lifts progression-free survival in kidsChildren with high-risk cancers live longer without their disease progressing when their treatments are chosen based on genomic sequencing of their tumour. In a group of 384 children with solid tumours and blood cancers, those who had whole-genome sequencing (WGS) guide their choice of treatment were more than twice as likely to be alive without cancer progression two years on than those who received standard care (26% vs 12%). "Our data show that precision-guided treatment informed by comprehensive molecular profiling significantly improves outcomes for children with high-risk cancers," report the authors. The Sydney Morning Herald | 4 min read (paywall)Reference: Nature Medicine paper (6 June) | |||||
'Proteomic age clock' reveals disease riskResearchers have built a 'proteomic age clock' that can predict when you were born and how likely you are to die from 18 age-related diseases, including cancers, based on the levels of 204 proteins in the blood. This tool was developed based on an analysis of 2,897 proteins in more than 45,000 blood samples from the UK Biobank. Nature | 4 min readReference: Nature Medicine paper (8 August) | |||||
In the news
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Cancer uses lipids to slip past immune cellsFatty compounds called sphingolipids help tumour cells evade attacks from the immune system. These biomolecules were already known to build up in rapidly dividing cancer cells, but new research reveals their role in affecting the immune-signalling molecules on the surface of cancer cells. When sphingolipid production was depleted in cancer cells, the levels of a pro-inflammatory molecule called IFNγ receptor subunit 1 increased on the surface of the cell, prompting attacks from natural killer and cytotoxic T cells. "Thus, altering membrane sphingolipid composition pharmacologically or via dietary interventions could be a viable strategy to improve immunotherapy response," report the authors. Reference: Nature paper (7 August) | |||||
'Off switch' for deadly childhood cancerNeuroblastoma causes around 15% of all deaths from childhood cancer, but its growth can be stalled by silencing the Runx1t1 gene. Knocking down this gene slowed the growth of a tumour-cell colony in laboratory experiments and prevented tumour growth in mice. The Runx1t1 protein forms part of a complex that regulates genes that are important for the initiation and progression of childhood neuroblastoma. This study "has opened avenues for the development of potential additional therapeutic treatment approaches," report the authors. Reference: Nature Communications paper (11 July) | |||||
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| Only around 0.02% of cancer cells that have broken free of the primary tumour successfully settle elsewhere in the body. Often the 'soil' conditions aren't quite right for these cancer 'seeds' to grow, write biomedical researchers Katharina Woess and Direna Alonso-Curbelo. But researchers have now pinpointed a cell-surface protein called plexin B2 that creates a hospitable environment for roaming cancer cells to colonise the liver of mice. (Nature News & Views | 7 min read) Reference: Nature paper (24 July) | |||||
Quote of the week"In a way, we were lucky that my wife was diagnosed during the wool combing season. We were able to sell cashmere from our goats to finance her treatment."Treatment for his wife's cervical cancer has been financially punishing for his family, says Nergui, a herder from Khentii province in Mongolia — the country with the highest rate of cancer mortality in the world. (The Guardian | 5 min read) | |||||
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Sensory nerves help breast cancer invade
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