Molecular Cancer

As an internationally recognized journal, Molecular Cancer is dedicated to the innovation of how basic cancer research drives advances in cancer prevention, ...

List of Papers (Total 5,055)

Bispecific antibodies: unleashing a new era in oncology treatment

Advancements in diagnostic and therapeutic standards have substantially enhanced the survival of patients with malignant tumors. Nevertheless, the quest for effective strategies to address resistant or recurrent advanced tumors remains a critical and unwavering objective. Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) unleashed a new era of anti-tumor treatment by simultaneously binding to two...

Metabolic checkpoints in immune cell reprogramming: rewiring immunometabolism for cancer therapy

Immune cell metabolism plays a pivotal role in regulating cellular proliferation, differentiation, and functional responses, collectively shaping immune responses within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Recent advancements increasingly highlight diverse metabolic phenotypes of immune cells and their complex interplay with tumor dynamics. Immune cell metabolism exhibits...

Traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among women globally. While treatments such as chemotherapy and endocrine therapy have contributed to improving survival rates, there remains a critical need for more effective therapeutic options. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with a history spanning thousands of years, has long been utilized in the management of...

Targeting FGFR4 abrogates HNF1A-driven metastasis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

We previously identified an oncogenic role for the transcription factor HNF1A in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the role of HNF1A in the metastatic progression of PDAC remains unknown and targeting modalities for HNF1A-dependent phenotypes have yet to be identified. Transwell chambers were used to assess the effects of HNF1A and FGFR4 modulation on the...

Advances and obstacles of T cell-based immunotherapy in gynecological malignancies

T cell-mediated immunotherapy has revolutionized oncology by enabling precision immune responses against malignant cells. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which involves genetically reprogramming T lymphocytes to recognize tumor-specific antigens, has shown clinical success in hematologic malignancies and is expanding its potential in solid tumors. Gynecological...

Hijacking homeostasis: the brain-body neural circuitry in tumor pathogenesis and emerging therapeutic frontiers

Cancer research is undergoing a paradigm shift from solely studying tumor cells to investigating systemic effects of cancer in the tumor macroevironment, with an emphasis on the interactions between host organs and tumors. The theory of homeostasis is an important basis for explaining biological functions from the perspective of the organism. Organic homeostasis relies on brain...

PEGylated PLGA nanoparticles: unlocking advanced strategies for cancer therapy

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a widely utilized biodegradable and biocompatible polymer in drug delivery systems, particularly for encapsulating drug molecules with poor solubility and permeability. PLGA nanoparticles, composed of polylactic acid (PLA) and polyglycolic acid (PGA), offer tunable properties such as controlled degradation rates and drug release kinetics...

Metabolic reprogramming promotes apoptosis resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia through CASP3 lactylation

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is characterized by metabolic adaptations that support rapid cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. Our study identifies elevated sphingomyelin (SM) as a key metabolic alteration in ALL, contributing to apoptosis resistance via CASP3 (caspase 3) lactylation. Using comprehensive lipidomic analyses of plasma samples from pediatric ALL...

An immune responsive tumor microenvironment imprints into PBMCs and predicts outcome in advanced pancreatic cancer: lessons from the PREDICT trial

Prognosis in advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (aPDAC) is particularly poor, only few patients benefit from treatment, and there are few biomarkers. The PREDICT trial examined whether first-line time-to-treatment failure (TTF1) predicts second-line treatment failure (TTF2) in aPDAC patients but found no association. We hypothesized that the tumor immune microenvironment...

Primary and secondary metastatic dissemination: multiple routes to cancer-related death

Metastatic disease accounts for approximately 80% of cancer-related deaths, typically manifesting as single-organ failure mainly through abdominal, cardiovascular, neurological, or respiratory complications. Despite treating thousands of cancer patients daily worldwide, our understanding of organ-specific metastatic dissemination routes, tissue destruction mechanisms and reasons...

Application of photodynamic activation of prodrugs combined with phototherapy in tumor treatment

The design of prodrugs aims to address the issues of systemic toxicity and poor specificity associated with traditional chemotherapy drugs, thereby improving patient survival rates. However, effectively controlling the activation of prodrugs and further improve the efficacy remains a significant challenge that needs to be addressed. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a non-invasive...

NSUN2-mediated cytosine-5 methylation of FSP1 protects acute myeloid leukemia cells from ferroptosis

RNA 5-methylcytosine (m5C), a prevalent epitranscriptomic modification that critically regulates gene expression and cellular homeostasis. While its roles in solid tumors have been increasingly recognized, the functional landscape of m5C in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains unexplored. Here, we identified NSUN2, the principal RNA m5C methyltransferase, as a key regulator of...

From preneoplastic lesion to heterogenous tumor: recent insights into hepatoblastoma biology and therapeutic opportunities

Hepatoblastoma is the most common pediatric liver cancer, with the fastest rising incidence among childhood malignancies. Early genomic studies revealed that hepatoblastoma has the lowest mutational burden of any human cancer, however, recent advances in single-cell RNA-seq, multiomics, spatial transcriptomics, and functional genomics screenings have revealed substantial...

CircABCA1 promotes ccRCC by reprogramming cholesterol metabolism and facilitating M2 macrophage polarization through IGF2BP3-mediated stabilization of SCARB1 mRNA

The reliance of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) on exogenous cholesterol import implies a metabolic susceptibility. This susceptibility represents a potential avenue that can be exploited as a novel therapeutic approach for ccRCC. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging regulators in cancer, yet their roles in ccRCC lipid metabolism and tumor microenvironment remodeling...

Chronic stress: a fourth etiology in tumorigenesis?

Chronic stress, driven by persistent psychological, environmental, or physiological factors, is a prolonged heightened state of stress response that disrupts homeostasis. When unmanaged, it will lead to sustained negative emotions such as depression, loneliness, anxiety, and emotional adversity. This persistent emotional distress not only exacerbates mental health disorders but...

Double vulnerability of active-NRF2 lung squamous cell carcinoma to NRF2 and TRIM24

Lung squamous cell cancer (LUSC) is associated with very poor survival due to the lack of specific treatments. A common genetic alteration in LUSC involves mutations in NFE2L2 (protein named NRF2) or its regulator, KEAP1, resulting in increased activity of the NRF2 transcription factor (TF). This study compares the requirement for active-NRF2 in LUSC cell lines. Although normal...

The tumor microbiome in cancer progression: mechanisms and therapeutic potential

The tumor microbiome (TM) comprises diverse microbial communities, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Recent advancements in microbial sequencing technologies have improved our understanding of the distribution and functional roles of microbes in solid tumors. The TM is formed through several mechanisms, such as direct invasion of mucosal barriers, diffusion from adjacent...

Bridging the tumor microenvironment: the pivotal role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in tumor cachexia development

Tumor cachexia represents a complex and multifaceted metabolic syndrome that profoundly affects the quality of life and survival rates of individuals. It is highly prevalent in advanced cancer patients and is characterized by severe weight loss, muscle wasting, and systemic inflammation. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is pivotal in cancer formation and progression, where cancer...

M6A-Methylated circRAPGEF5 drives lung adenocarcinoma progression and metastasis via IGF2BP2/NUP160-mediated autophagy suppression

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), the predominant histological subtype of non-small cell lung cancer, demonstrates critical regulatory involvement of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in tumorigenic processes. Emerging evidence highlights the circRNA-autophagy regulatory axis as a crucial modulator of cancer progression. This study systematically investigates the...

Post-translational modifications of cancer immune checkpoints: mechanisms and therapeutic strategies

Immunotherapies, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), have revolutionized cancer clinical management, but low response rates and treatment resistance remain challenging. Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) are critical for governing protein expression, localization, functions, and interactions with other cellular molecules, which notably build up the...

Advancing CAR-based cell therapies for solid tumours: challenges, therapeutic strategies, and perspectives

Chimeric antigen receptor-cell therapies have demonstrated remarkable success in haematological malignancies but face significant hurdles in solid tumours. The hostile tumour microenvironment, antigen heterogeneity, limited tumour infiltration, and CAR-cell exhaustion contribute to reduced efficacy. Additionally, toxicity, off-target effects, and manufacturing challenges limit...

Targeting CD30L in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: novel peptide conjugates and their therapeutic potential

B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) constitutes the majority of NHL cases. Patients with B-NHL often experience multiple recurrences, necessitating several lines of antitumor therapy, and develop drug resistance. The recent success of therapeutic strategies targeting CD19 and CD20 highlights the therapeutic potential of identifying unique molecular markers in B-NHL for precision...

Promising therapeutic efficacy and safety of a novel integrin α6-targeting peptide-drug conjugate in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most prevalent subtype of lung cancer, with poor prognosis due to rapid tumor growth and resistance to current treatments. Thus, the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic strategies has become increasingly important in the management of LUAD. A novel integrin α6-targeting peptide-drug conjugate, RWYD-MMAE, was designed to increase...

Non-canonical ALK7 pathways promote pancreatic cancer metastasis through β-catenin/MMP-mediated basement membrane breakdown and intravasation

Breaching the vascular barrier is a critical step in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) metastasis, yet the mechanisms enabling this process remain incompletely understood. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptors have been extensively studied in many cancer types. However, activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7), one of the TGFβ receptors, is under-investigated, and...

IFITM3 enhances immunosensitivity via MHC-I regulation and is associated with the efficacy of anti-PD-1/-L1 therapy in SCLC

Most small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients exhibit resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and demonstrate downregulation of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules. This study aimed to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms underlying MHC-I expression and potential combination strategies. Single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data from SCLC patients were...