Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Study finds popular AI chatbots often give problematic health advice

Researchers audited five popular public-facing AI chatbots across 250 health prompts and found that 49.6% of responses were problematic, with especially weak performance on open-ended questions and in nutrition and athletic performance. The study also found poor citation quality, difficult readability, and very few refusals to answer, raising concerns about the reliability of chatbots for everyday health information.

16 Apr 2026

Clinical barriers prevent hormone therapy access after cervical cancer treatment

Most oncologists say they would prescribe hormone therapy to cervical cancer patients who experience early menopause from radiation treatment, but barriers are keeping many from doing so in practice, according to a new University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center study published in JAMA Network Open.

16 Apr 2026

Researchers discover a molecular signature to flag dysfunctional aging cells

UCLA researchers have identified a rogue population of immune cells that quietly accumulates in aging tissues and in the livers of people with fatty liver disease. Clearing these cells, they found, dramatically reduced inflammation and reversed liver damage in mice - even while the animals remained on an unhealthy diet.

16 Apr 2026

Scientists find "hidden" pre-cancer signs in advanced esophageal cancer patients

Scientists have found the strongest evidence to date that a condition known as Barrett's esophagus is the starting point for all cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma – the most common type of esophageal cancer in the developed world – even when telltale signs of this pre-cancerous stage are no longer visible.

16 Apr 2026

Epigenetic changes allow cancer cells to shift identity and survive drugs

Cancer drugs are designed to shut tumors down. But sometimes, in the very act of attacking a tumor, treatment can also help a small fraction of cancer cells become harder to kill. A new study from researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) shows that cancer cells may begin escaping therapy much earlier - as the therapy itself triggers a stress response that drives some cancer cells into a temporary drug-tolerant state.

16 Apr 2026

New lab-grown organoids accurately mimic pediatric brain tumor biology

Efforts to identify and evaluate next-generation therapeutics for pediatric brain tumors are easily stymied by the quality and availability of laboratory models for research. To address this issue, scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital developed patient-derived tumor organoids and tumor organoid xenografts that accurately reflect the biologic underpinnings of embryonal brain tumors.

16 Apr 2026

Higher stress and BMI tied to earlier puberty in girls

New research links stress, BMI, and hormone patterns to pubertal timing, revealing implications for long-term health and early intervention strategies.

16 Apr 2026

Study links ultra-processed food intake to poorer thigh muscle quality

A Radiology study of 615 adults at risk for knee osteoarthritis found that higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with greater fat infiltration in thigh muscles on MRI, a marker of poorer muscle quality. The association remained after adjustment for BMI, was stronger in models using abdominal circumference, and did not differ significantly by sex.

15 Apr 2026

Older adults show high willingness for Alzheimer’s blood tests

Northwestern University psychologist Andrea Russell sees older adults with early cognitive impairment riddled with anxiety. Some worry a missed word or forgotten appointment could signal Alzheimer's disease.

15 Apr 2026

Gut-liver changes drive foodborne infection severity in fatty liver disease

A research team led by the University of California, Irvine's Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health has uncovered a critical biological link explaining why individuals with metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), or fatty liver disease, face significantly worse outcomes from certain foodborne infections.

15 Apr 2026

Mitochondrial activity keeps dendritic cells ready to fight disease

Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) show that active mitochondria maintain dendritic cells, the immune system's sentinels, in a "ready-to-respond" state, linking cellular metabolism to gene regulation and T-cell activation.

15 Apr 2026

Popular chatbots often provide inaccurate and incomplete medical information

A substantial amount of medical information provided by 5 popular chatbots is inaccurate and incomplete, with half of the answers to clear evidence based questions "somewhat" or "highly" problematic, show the results of a study published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

15 Apr 2026

Liver cancer burden rising globally amid shift to metabolic risks

Primary liver cancer continues to pose a major global health challenge, ranking as the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.

15 Apr 2026

New grant funds AI search for genetic targets to treat Alzheimer's

With a new $6.2 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, researchers at Case Western Reserve University will use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify possible genetic targets to treat Alzheimer's disease.

15 Apr 2026

Electric bike and scooter use causes surge in brain injuries

The growing use of electric bikes and scooters has caused a surge in brain and spine injuries among urban riders and pedestrians, a new study shows.

15 Apr 2026

New CRISPR tool selectively cuts tumor DNA while sparing healthy cells

Cancer cells excel at evading detection, but subtle chemical differences set them apart from healthy cells.

15 Apr 2026

Dutch study shows off-label targeted therapies benefit more cancer patients

The largest published prospective evaluation of off-label targeted cancer therapies has shown that more patients could benefit from existing drugs.

15 Apr 2026

AP-1 proteins help cancer cells rewire genes to survive treatment

A long-standing mystery in cancer treatment is how tumor cells so often become resistant to drugs, even ones they have never encountered before.

15 Apr 2026

New biochip detects tiny genetic markers in 20 minutes

A team of scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new biochip that, when paired with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can detect quickly and accurately extremely small amounts of microRNAs, which are tiny genetic markers linked to diseases such as heart disease.

15 Apr 2026

Breakthrough blood test predicts kidney failure years before clinical symptoms

A new blood test can identify which individuals of African ancestry carrying high-risk APOL1 gene variants are most likely to develop kidney failure, years before clinical disease becomes apparent.

15 Apr 2026