Thyroid gland new possible target for prostate cancer treatment

Lukas Kenner, visiting professor at the Department of Molecular Biology.
Photo Credit: Medizinische Universität Wien

A hormone produced in the thyroid gland can play a key role in the development of prostate cancer. This is shown in a new study by an international research group led by Umeå University, Sweden, and the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. By blocking a receptor for the hormone, the growth of tumor cells in the prostate was inhibited. In the long term, the discovery may open up a new way of attacking certain types of aggressive prostate cancer.

"The results indicate that the receptor in question is a driving force in the growth of cancer. Substances that block it could thus be a target for future drugs against prostate cancer," says Lukas Kenner, visiting professor at Umeå University and the one who has led the study that is published in Molecular Cancer.

The receptor in question is called thyroid hormone receptor Beta, TRβ. It binds the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine, T3. In laboratory experiments, the activation of T3 has led to a sharp increase in the number of prostate cancer cells. However, when the receptor TRβ was inhibited with the help of an active substance, NH-3, significantly reduced the growth of cancer cells. NH-3 is a substance that is only used in research to block TRβ.

OHSU researchers develop promising drug for aggressive breast cancer

New research reveals a drug developed by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University may develop into a new treatment for an especially aggressive form of breast cancer.
Photo Credit: Oregon Health & Science University

A new molecule developed by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University offers a promising avenue to treat intractable cases of triple-negative breast cancer — a form of cancer that is notoriously aggressive and lacks effective treatments.

In a study published today in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, researchers describe the effect of a molecule known as SU212 to inhibit an enzyme that is critical to cancer progression. The research was conducted in a humanized mouse model.

“It’s an important step forward to treat triple-negative breast cancer,” said senior author Sanjay V. Malhotra, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics in the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. “Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of cancer and there are no effective drugs available right now.”

Combination of immunotherapy and targeted therapy improves survival for patients with advanced colorectal cancer

Human colorectal cancer cells
Image Credit: National Cancer Institute

A new study led by UCLA investigators found that combining zanzalintinib, a targeted therapy drug, and atezolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, helped patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death in the U.S., live longer and control their disease better than with the standard treatment drug regorafenib. 

The findings simultaneously published in The Lancet and presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress; mark the first time an immunotherapy-based regimen has demonstrated a survival benefit in the vast majority of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

“This study represents an important step forward for a group of patients who have historically had very few treatment options,” said Dr. J. Randolph Hecht, professor of clinical medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and first author of the study. “We may finally be finding ways to make immunotherapy work for more patients with colorectal cancer.”

ADC Improves Outcomes for Patients with Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Who are Ineligible for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Dr. Sara Tolaney, chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber, is the senior author on the ASCENT-03 study.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Patients with an aggressive form of breast cancer who are not candidates for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy showed significantly improved progression-free survival when treated with the antibody drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan compared to standard chemotherapy. These findings, which stem from the ASCENT-03 trial in triple-negative breast cancer co-led by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, are presented today at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 in Berlin, Germany. They are also published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for about 15% of all breast cancer cases and is often difficult to treat. The 5-year survival rate for patients with metastatic disease is about 15%. Moreover, around 60% of patients with metastatic TNBC have tumors that lack the molecular marker PD-L1. This absence indicates the tumors will not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors. For most patients with previously untreated TNBC, chemotherapy is the primary treatment option.

Broad-Bayer collaboration leads to drug candidate for a hard-to-treat type of lung cancer

Broad Communications Scientists in the Broad-Bayer oncology alliance have developed a drug candidate, sevabertinib, that could be a new lung cancer treatment.
Illustration Credit: Agnieszka Grosso

An alliance of scientists at the Broad Institute and Bayer Pharmaceuticals have developed a drug candidate, sevabertinib, that could be a new treatment for a group of lung cancer patients who have few options today.

In a new study published in Cancer Discovery, the team described their efforts to develop sevabertinib. They tested the compound in various lung cancer models and showed its potential to treat non-small cell lung cancers that harbor certain mutations in the ERBB2 gene, which encodes the HER2 protein. These mutations occur in 2 to 4 percent of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or roughly 40,000 to 50,000 people diagnosed globally each year. These patients tend to be women, including those who are younger, have never smoked, and have a poor prognosis. 

The study also reported data from two participants in Bayer’s phase 1/2 clinical trial of the compound. Based on these findings and other data from this ongoing clinical trial, the drug candidate is currently under Priority Review at the FDA, an expedited review of therapies that treat serious conditions. If approved, it would be the first FDA-approved cancer drug based on Broad discoveries, and the first new medicine from the Broad-Bayer oncology research alliance. 

When healing turns harmful: adrenal support cells tied to cancer origin

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI generated

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, shows that support cells in the adrenal gland can regenerate hormone-producing tissue after birth. The same cells may also act as a starting point for adrenal tumors, offering new insights into cancer development and potential treatment strategies.

“We found that these glial-like cells not only help maintain healthy tissue but, in some paragangliomas, also carry the same tumor-initiating genetic event,” explains Susanne Schlisio, group leader at the Department of Oncology-Pathology and last author of the study. 

“In tumors with germline VHL mutations, subsets of these support cells showed loss of chromosome 3p, the ‘second hit’ leading to VHL inactivation. This suggests they may be the origin of certain tumors,” says Dr. Michael Mints, docent at the same department and co-corresponding author of the study.