📄 Category

cancer biology

299 papers

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.

📄 cancer biology

POLQ-driven repair scars shape the immunogenic landscape of homologous recombination-deficient pancreatic cancer

This study identifies the POLQ-driven MMEJ Deletion Footprint (MDF) as a key genomic marker in homologous recombination-deficient pancreatic cancer that promotes immunogenicity by increasing neoantigens, remodeling myeloid cells to enhance antigen presentation, and fostering productive T-cell interactions, thereby linking specific DNA repair mechanisms to favorable clinical responses to immunotherapy.

Park, W., Umeda, S., Hilmi, M., O'Connor, C. A., Sharma, R., Tezcan, N., Zhang, H., Zhu, Y., Schwartz, C., Yaqubie, A. (…)2026-03-17
📄 cancer biology

Travelling Waves in Gene Expression: A Mathematical Model of Cell-State Dynamics in Melanoma

This paper presents a piecewise-linear mathematical model of a three-transcription-factor gene regulatory network to demonstrate how strong intercellular signaling drives travelling waves of gene expression, ultimately determining the dominant cell-state characteristic in melanoma populations.

Taylor Barca, C. E., Leshem, R., Gopalan, V., Woolner, S., Marie, K. L., Jones, G. W., Jensen, O. E.2026-03-16
📄 cancer biology

Systematic Evaluation Defines the Limits of Ferroptosis in Cancer Therapy

This study systematically demonstrates that while ferroptosis induction via the GPX4 axis fails to impact established tumors in vivo, inhibiting cytosolic thioredoxin reductase or GCLC triggers potent tumor regression through a distinct, non-ferroptotic cell death mechanism, revealing that standard cell culture models significantly overestimate the therapeutic potential of ferroptosis.

Fujihara, K. M., Aziz, A., Akbari, B., Gutierrez-Perez, M., Francis, G., Zentout, S., Wu, K., Clemons, N. J., Terzi, E. (…)2026-03-14
📄 cancer biology

A mutation-resolved therapeutic atlas of NRAS-mutant melanoma reveals genotype-selective response to RAS(ON) inhibition and adaptive STAT3 survival

This study establishes a mutation-resolved therapeutic atlas for NRAS-mutant melanoma using a saturation mutagenesis screen, revealing that tri-complex RAS(ON) inhibitors exhibit genotype-selective efficacy across most variants while identifying adaptive STAT3 signaling as a critical resistance mechanism that can be targeted to enhance therapeutic outcomes.

Yeung, S. F., Chen, J. X., Law, C. T. Y., Law, A. C. H., Lee, C., Leung, A. M. F., Chau, M. P. K., Tong, M., Ko, B. C.-B (…)2026-03-13
📄 cancer biology

Combined Menin and XPO1 inhibition drive synergistic antileukemic activity in KMT2Ar and NPM1-m AML

This preclinical study demonstrates that combining the menin inhibitor ziftomenib with the XPO1 inhibitor selinexor synergistically suppresses oncogenic transcription and induces apoptosis in KMT2A-rearranged and NPM1-mutated AML by disrupting menin-chromatin interactions, thereby offering a promising strategy to overcome resistance and improve survival outcomes compared to monotherapy.

Uddin, M. H., Dhiman, S., Han, Y., Aboukameel, A., Dhillon, V., Aguillar, J., Buck, S., Deol, A., Boerner, J. L., Polin (…)2026-03-13
📄 cancer biology

Tuning the Structural Properties of a Single-Domain Antibody Scaffold for Improved Fibroblast Activation Protein Targeting

This study demonstrates that engineering a novel anti-FAP single-domain antibody (VHH) into monomeric, dimeric, and Fc-fusion formats allows for the tuning of pharmacokinetic properties to optimize tumor uptake, retention, and radiation dosimetry for improved cancer theranostics targeting fibroblast activation protein.

Ott, K., Gallant, J., Kwon, O., Adeniyi, A., Bednarz, B., Barrett, K., Rosenkrans, Z., Mixdorf, J., Engle, J., Aluicio S (…)2026-03-13