Zhang, S., Fu, Q., Yuan, X. et al. Reshaping the colorectal cancer immune microenvironment: insights from single-cell and spatial omics. Cancer Cell Int (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-026-04245-y.

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New in practicalRO: radonc.

A dose-escalation trial of reirradiation (reRT) was conducted in patients with a diagnosis of recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM) to increase the total overall dose given to the tumor without increasing toxicity. The primary objective of this study was to establish the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) for reRT in patients with rGBM.

A new preclinical study in mice shows that precancerous cells in the pancreas can be eliminated before they have the chance to become tumors. Using an experimental therapy to target microscopic precancerous lesions in the pancreas nearly doubled survival in mouse models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) compared to the same treatment given after cancer developed.

The research, published in Science, was led by physician-scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. It’s the first time scientists have shown that a medical intervention could stop growth of pre-cancerous lesions in the pancreas before they develop into pancreatic cancer, providing strong evidence for the burgeoning field of cancer interception.

“I’m convinced that cancer interception will become the next frontier of cancer therapy,” said co-corresponding author Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center.

How does the short-term care burden compare between heart transplants and LVADs? LVADs have higher upfront costs and longer stays; heart transplant recipients incur greater rehospitalization costs over time. @mogga72553 @HartfordHealthC

BackgroundHeart transplant (HT) and left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are treatment options for advanced heart failure refractory to standard therapy. Historically, LVADs have been used as either destination therapy or a bridge to transplant. However, recent changes to the organ allocation system have deprioritized patients on LVADs as transplant recipients, leading to divisive views on the role of an LVAD. The comparative short‐term care burden with each modality remains unclear.

Antscan is a publicly accessible database of synchrotron X-ray CT images of ants. The database covers almost 800 species from more than 200 genera and is coordinated with genome sequencing projects that will enable integrative analyses.

Chen et al. provide a comprehensive roadmap of the gene regulatory networks governing human pancreatic differentiation and identify the essential roles of the NKX2.2-CLEC16A/endosomal pathway axis for islet organogenesis. This study also highlights the expandable pancreatic progenitor (ePP)-islet system as a powerful platform for investigating cell fate decisions and disease modeling.

Researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology have found that physically resisting the formation of an immunological synapse actually promotes a stronger immune response. The findings could help explain how immune responses become weakened in cancer and chronic infection and inform the design of more effective vaccines.

In a new study led by Professor Mike Dustin at the Kennedy Institute, and the team lead Dr. Alexander Leithner (now at the University of Salzburg, Austria), in collaboration with Audun Kvalvaag, at the Institute for Cancer Research at the University Hospital Oslo, examined how the physical presentation of a protein called ICAM-1 (Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1) on a target cells affects the activation of T cells—the immune system’s cells responsible for identifying and eliminating infected or cancerous cells.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their findings show that when ICAM-1 is locked in place, rather than free to move within the cell membrane, T cells show a stronger response and become more effective at killing target cells. The study provides new insight that could help design better immune strategies and may have implications for vaccine design, cancer immunotherapy and understanding immune evasion.