OCT News and Research

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KRAS-targeting vaccine prompts immune responses in pancreatic cancer patients

An investigational vaccine helped the immune system recognize and respond to mutations that drive most pancreatic cancers, according to results from a randomized phase 2 clinical trial led by Mayo Clinic researchers.

23 Oct 2026

Shared meiosis proteins show surprising functional differences across animals

Every egg cell and sperm cell depends on meiosis, a tightly choreographed process in which chromosomes find their partners, exchange genetic material, and then divide.

23 Oct 2026

PARP1 remodels nucleosomes to help cells repair damaged DNA

When DNA is damaged, cellular processes respond and repair the DNA. Inhibiting DNA damage repair can be therapeutically beneficial in cancers with genetic vulnerabilities related to DNA damage response.

23 Oct 2026

Researchers call for microbiome moonshot to tackle chronic diseases

Rutgers researchers are part of an international call for a microbiome moonshot, a massive, coordinated effort to pinpoint how certain microorganisms inside us drive chronic disease and how others can be harnessed for repair.

23 Oct 2026

Children's brain reward responses may explain ultra-processed food-related weight gain

Children who eat more ultra-processed foods (UPFs) show stronger responses in the brain's reward network when viewing images of appetizing foods-and these brain responses are linked to increases in body fat one year later.

23 Oct 2026

New playground design aims to protect children from harmful UV rays

A new design methodology for school playgrounds is demonstrating how children can still enjoy their play time whilst being protected from the harmful effects of the sun.

23 Oct 2026

Study identifies potential new ways to treat the most common type of bowel cancer

Major new research published today identifies potential new ways to treat the most common type of bowel cancer in Ireland.

23 Oct 2026

Blood biomarker test improves detection of hidden brain injuries

Clinician-scientists hope to expand the use of blood-based biomarker tests for traumatic brain injury (TBI) to improve identification and escalation of care for patients whose diagnosis otherwise might be missed.

23 Oct 2026

Decipher tissue-based molecular test helps personalize high-risk prostate cancer treatment

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men – in 2013, it affected more than one million men across the world.

23 Oct 2026

Medicare is more broken than we thought

By Oct. 1, at least 2 million seniors will have received alarming notices: Their health plans — which they get through Medicare Advantage, the version of Medicare run by private health insurance companies — will disappear at the end of the year.

23 Oct 2026

Better engineering of hospital handbasins could prevent superbug outbreaks

Handbasins help prevent infections in hospitals but new research from Flinders University warns that contaminated basins in healthcare might put patients at risk and have implications in outbreaks of superbugs.

23 Oct 2026

Electronic implant lowers blood glucose and reduces weight in mice

Type 2 diabetes is becoming increasingly common worldwide. Unlike type 1 diabetes, it is often linked to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and excess energy intake over many years.

23 Oct 2026

Brain-computer interface enables unresponsive ICU patients to control sounds

Unresponsive ICU patients in a new Columbia study were able to raise and lower the frequency of a beeping tone with their minds, via noninvasive EEG electrodes that recorded and translated their brainwaves.

23 Oct 2026

Postpartum recovery may influence long-term maternal aging and health

Jesse Poganik, PhD, of the Division of Genetics within the Department of Medicine at Mass General Brigham, is the senior author of a paper published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, "The Postpartum Recovery Window as a Determinant of Maternal Aging." Stephen Albright, formerly of Mass General Brigham, is the lead author.

23 Oct 2026

Study links recreational cannabis legalization to rising heart attack admissions

Legalization of recreational cannabis in the US is associated with a rise in hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease, finds an analysis of more than 50 million patient discharge records, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

22 Oct 2026

Psilocybin reshapes brain connections through distinct cellular pathways

A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, reveals how psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in "magic mushrooms," reshapes neural connections in the brain.

22 Oct 2026

AI scoring tool may guide skin biopsy decision

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that an artificial intelligence (AI) tool may provide dermatologists with additional information to help assess whether skin lesions are cancerous and inform their clinical decisions about whether to biopsy or monitor them, according to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

22 Oct 2026

Unstable immune cells linked to severe cancer immunotherapy side effects

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh uncovered the unstable immune cells that can cause up to 40% of immunotherapy patients to experience serious side effects and showed that diet and microbiome composition influence the side effect's severity.

22 Oct 2026

Short gaps between pregnancies may accelerate biological aging in mothers

The study of biological aging, how our cells, tissues, and organs change over time, independent of how many years have passed, is a growing area of research that aims to help scientists understand the root causes of chronic illnesses and find ways to enhance longevity.

22 Oct 2026

Gaining too much weight during pregnancy raises complication risks

A new study of more than one million births led by McMaster University researchers has found that gaining too much weight during pregnancy, regardless of a person's starting weight, is linked to a higher risk of life-threatening maternal complications.

22 Oct 2026