Why cancers are rising in young people

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View this email in your browser Thursday 10 October 2024

Hello Nature readers, This week, we discover two ways to drive cancer-fighting immune cells further inside solid tumours, explore why cancers are rising in young people and investigate whether magic mushrooms can ease distress in people with cancer.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer cells are immune cells that have been genetically engineered to express CARs, proteins that can recognise molecules on the surface of cancer cells. (Credit: Hybrid Medical Animation/Science Photo Library)

A 'tumour GPS' for immune cells Researchers have used engineered bacteria to guide immune cells deep inside solid tumours to extend survival in mice with hard-to-treat cancers. Non-pathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria were engineered to display immune-stimulating molecules called cytokines on their surfaces. These bacteria activated immune cells called CAR natural killer cells and encouraged them to invade tumours, extending the survival of mice with a type of cancer called mesothelioma compared with controls. This approach could "serve as a 'tumour GPS' for the systemically delivered CAR treatments in solid malignancies," the authors report. Reference: Nature Biotechnology paper (4 October)

Can magic mushrooms ease cancer distress? Magic mushrooms appear to alleviate distress in some people with cancer. According to a pooled analysis of two randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over studies involving 79 participants, taking psilocybin combined with psychotherapy significantly improved anxiety, depression, and other mental health factors without causing lasting phobia, paranoia or psychosis. "Together, our findings suggest that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has the potential to be a comprehensive mental health treatment for patients with cancer," report the authors. Reference: Nature Mental Health paper (7 October)

Features & opinion

Why cancers are rising in young people Oncologist Eileen O'Reilly sees a person under the age of 40 with pancreatic cancer almost every week. "These are people in the prime of life, who are starting families and have everything to live for," she says. "The implications for society are profound." In 14 out of 50 countries worldwide, cancers in young people are on the rise while cancers in older people are holding steady. What's driving this change? Researchers aren't sure, but some of the leading contenders are: obesity, sleep deprivation, microplastics, ultra-processed foods and antibiotics, all of which have increased over the past few decades. The rising rates of cancers in young people is "an incredibly scary observation," says O'Reilly. BBC | 11 min read

'Velocity receptors' push CAR T further Inserting loops of DNA called plasmids into CAR T cells produces 'velocity receptors' that make the immune cells hypermobile and therefore better at infiltrating and killing solid tumours. This approach slowed the growth of lung, ovarian and pancreatic tumours and increased survival in mice compared with standard CAR T cell therapy. The technology is just one innovation that was boosted by the services of the non-profit plasmid repository Addgene, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. "Starting from scratch would have been very, very difficult," says biomolecular engineer Denis Wirtz, who co-authored the study. "We would have been stuck." Nature | 12 min read Reference: bioRxiv preprint (26 March)

Conference highlights

Immunotherapy poster child is going strong Melanoma is considered a prime example of the success of immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Now, a ten-year follow-up of people with advanced melanoma has confirmed that the immunotherapy pembrolizumab has a survival benefit, with around a third of people still alive a decade after taking this drug compared with only around 24% survival in people taking ipilimumab. The results of the trial were simultaneously published and shared at the European Society for Medical Oncology's annual congress. This event, hosted in Barcelona in September, brought together more than 30,000 delegates, from 149 countries. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology Research Highlights | 4 min read Reference: Annals of Oncology paper (15 September)

Cabozantinib for rare pancreatic cancer People with advanced neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer survived longer without their disease progressing when given a drug called cabozantinib compared with placebo. There are two types of pancreatic cancer: exocrine and neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. The latter develops from islet cells in the endocrine gland of the pancreas, accounts for less than 5% of all pancreatic cancer cases and is difficult to treat. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology Research Highlights | 2 min read Reference: The New England Journal of Medicine paper (16 September)

Immunotherapy for bladder cancer Adding the immunotherapy durvalumab to chemotherapy improves outcomes in people undergoing surgery for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. A study of more than 1,000 people found that 34% of those on the dual therapy responded to treatment compared with 26% of those only receiving chemotherapy. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology Research Highlights | 2 min read Reference: The New England Journal of Medicine paper (15 September)

In the news Deaths from breast cancer in the United States have declined around 44% since the late 1980s, but diagnosis rates have increased about 1% every year from 2012 to 2021, and the increase is higher in women under the age of 50 compared with older women. (CNN | 6 min read) Reference: CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians paper A new drug combination (amivantamab plus lazertinib) halted the progression of lung cancers for around 40% longer than the standard treatment, osimertinib. (The Guardian | 4 min read) A blood test can detect ovarian cancer with a high level of accuracy by measuring two protein biomarkers and cell-free DNA fragments. (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 4 min read) Reference: Cancer Discovery paper

Quote of the week "The most important things cannot be seen with the eyes… Only with the heart." A girl called Sonya lost her sight, and then her life, to a form of eye cancer that probably could have been cured if not for the war in Ukraine. Her story is captured in a fairytale by shelter employee Yulia Podkydysheva. (The New York Times | 10 min read)

Here's a story that blew me away: nickel — a key component in electric-car batteries — is usually mined by cutting into rock, but this metal also builds up in some plants over time, and scientists are investigating how to cultivate these 'hyperaccumulators' to produce nickel more sustainably. Send botany facts, tips and feedback to cancerbriefing@nature.com. Thanks for reading, Felicity Nelson, editor, Nature Briefing: Cancer

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