Cancer biology explores the complex ways cells grow out of control, investigating the genetic mutations and environmental factors that drive tumor formation. This field seeks to understand how healthy cells transform into malignant ones and how these rogue cells spread throughout the body. By decoding these fundamental mechanisms, researchers aim to develop more effective treatments that target the disease at its source while sparing healthy tissue.

At Gist.Science, we process every new preprint published in this category directly from bioRxiv to ensure you stay ahead of the curve. Our team provides both accessible plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries for each study, bridging the gap between raw research data and practical understanding. Whether you are a specialist or a curious reader, our goal is to make these critical findings clear and actionable.

Below are the latest papers in cancer biology, offering fresh insights into the ongoing fight against this disease.

Pathway incompatibility between NF-κB and RAS signaling constrains oncogenicity in B-cell leukemia

This study demonstrates that canonical NF-κB signaling constrains RAS-driven B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia by inducing a mature B-cell receptor state incompatible with oncogenic RAS activity, thereby triggering apoptosis in RAS-mutated cells and explaining the mutual exclusivity of these pathway alterations in leukemia.

Stewart, E., Knupke, M., Collins, A., Chan, L. N.2026-03-06📄 cancer biology

Assessing the Operational Feasibility of Evolutionary Therapy in Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

This study evaluates the clinical feasibility of evolutionary therapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer by demonstrating that while higher containment levels and dynamic protocols can improve outcomes, their success critically depends on minimizing measurement errors and appointment delays, with single-bound protocols proving more robust to these real-world clinical constraints.

Soboleva, A., Honasoge, K. S., Molnarova, E., Mulders, T. A., Dingemans, A.-M. C., Grossmann, I., Rezaei, J., Stankova, K.2026-03-05📄 cancer biology

Senescence-directed nanotherapy ameliorates fibrosis and overcomes immune exclusion in cancer

This study presents fucoidan-based nanoparticles (SMNPs) that selectively target P-selectin-expressing pathogenic senescent cells to ameliorate fibrosis, reverse immune exclusion, and sensitize tumors to immunotherapy by modulating immune-suppressive macrophages.

Hinterleitner, C., Barthet, V. J. A., Goldberg, H. V., Vogt, K. C., Perea, A. M., Ruiz, S., Hillger, L. R., McHugh, D., Ho, Y.-J., Chaves-Perez, A., Skamagki, M., Flowers, S., Rekhtman, N., Zhuang, X. (…)2026-03-04📄 cancer biology

Identifying cancer cell-state transitions from multimodal single-cell data

This study presents a single-cell framework that leverages temporal delays between mRNA and protein accumulation to identify cancer cell-state transitions, revealing a molecular program linking cell-cycle progression and mitochondrial remodeling to plasticity that serves as a robust prognostic and predictive biomarker across multiple tumor types.

Baselli, G. A., Alekseenko, A., Liano-Pons, J., Sinanis, L., Rrapaj, E., Arsenian-Henriksson, M., Pelechano, V.2026-03-04📄 cancer biology

NEURO-IMMUNE CRYPT-ASSOCIATED CELLS AND REST-MEDIATED REPROGRAMMING: PATHOGEN-DRIVEN STROMAL ACTIVATION, HERVS INDUCTION, AND ABORTIVE ANTIVIRAL SIGNALING IN COLORECTAL CARCINOMA

This study proposes a pathogen-driven model of colorectal carcinoma where Neuro-Immune Crypt-Associated (NICA) cells serve as a cellular origin, EBV-infected B-lineage cells induce HERV-H/F expression via paracrine signaling, and compromised antiviral surveillance allows these viral elements to persist, collectively redefining CRC as a disruption of the neuro-immune niche driven by chronic inflammatory pressure.

Diaz-Carballo, D., Noa Bolano, A., Udo Rahner, U., Acikelli, A. H., Saka, S., Klein, J., DSouza, F., Sascha Malak, S., Anne Hoeppner, A., Kamitz, A., Casula, C., Kamada, L., Tannapfel, A., Christmann (…)2026-03-02📄 cancer biology

MYC-ATF4-ASS1 axis governs intracellular arginine synthesis and dictates the immune microenvironment in melanoma

This study reveals that the MYC-ATF4-ASS1 axis in melanoma regulates intracellular arginine synthesis and shapes the tumor immune microenvironment, thereby determining tumor sensitivity to arginine-depleting therapies and enhancing CD8+ T cell-mediated antitumor immunity.

Mou, H., Yakovishina, V., Chen, Y., Xiao, M., Dunne, M., Shi, N., Thomas, M., DeRosa, K., Li, H., Liu, Q., Herlyn, M.2026-03-02📄 cancer biology

p53 restoration suppresses retrotransposon-driven chromosomal instability through nonlinear let-7 feedback and stochastic burst control

This study integrates experimental findings into a nonlinear dynamical model to demonstrate that p53 restoration suppresses retrotransposon-driven chromosomal instability by triggering a threshold-dependent collapse in L1 burst frequency via a let-7 feedback loop, thereby significantly reducing structural genome rearrangements in early tumorigenesis.

Lakshmanane, B.2026-03-02📄 cancer biology

mSWI/SNF complex inhibition sensitizes KRAS-mutant lung cancers to targeted therapies via epithelial-mesenchymal subversion

This study demonstrates that inhibiting mSWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes, specifically with the SMARCA4/2 inhibitor FHD-286, reverses epithelial-mesenchymal transition-mediated resistance and synergistically enhances the efficacy of KRAS inhibitors in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer.

Gentile, C., Feng, W. W., Lenahan, S. M., Ying, A. W., Card, D. C., Wu, F. T. H., Pham, N.-A., Radulovich, N., Cao, P. M., Hueniken, K., Li, Q., Tsao, M.-S., Kulesza, J., Hinkley, M. M., Liao, L., Tsa (…)2026-03-01📄 cancer biology

EZH1-dependent H3K27me1 is an adaptive chromatin barrier that limits DNMT inhibitor response in colorectal cancer

This study identifies EZH1-dependent H3K27me1 as a key adaptive barrier limiting DNMT inhibitor efficacy in colorectal cancer and demonstrates that combining DNMT inhibitors with dual EZH1/2 inhibitors overcomes this resistance by eliminating H3K27 methylation, resolving induced bivalent chromatin states, and suppressing oncogenic transcription to enhance therapeutic response.

Chomiak, A. A., Wiseman, A. K., Hrit, J. A., Liu, Y., Stransky, S., Cui, Y., Kong, X., Topper, M., Baylin, S., Sidoli, S., Tiedemann, R. L., Rothbart, S. B.2026-02-27📄 cancer biology