A sand timer with an old face on one side and a young face on the other

Focus issue: Ageing and cancer

With articles on modelling cancer in the aged context, stromal senescence & age-induced metabolic reprogramming

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  • Large biobank projects such as FinnGen have enabled systematic searches for inherited factors that causally influence a wide range of human traits, including cancer risk and outcome. These explorations provide genetic insights for various aspects of cancer research, including improved risk prediction, enhanced biomarker and drug target discovery, and personalized medicine.

    • Mervi Aavikko
    • Aoxing Liu
    • Mark Daly
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  • In a recent study published in Nature Genetics, Kübler, Nardone et al. analysed the mechanisms underlying tamoxifen-associated uterine cancer and identified PI3K pathway activation as a key non-genetic driver.

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  • In this Journal Club, Lopez-Hernandez and Ortega-Del Vecchyo discuss a study that mapped the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility in swordtail fish, revealing melanoma-causing gene interactions that reduce survival in natural hybrid populations.

    • Alessandro Lopez‐Hernandez
    • Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
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  • The outcomes for patients with cancer of unknown primary have improved through the use of molecularly guided therapies, for those both with and without a presumptive tissue-of-origin diagnosis. Genomic testing followed by molecularly guided therapies significantly improves survival compared to empiric chemotherapy, highlighting its practice-changing potential.

    • F. Anthony Greco
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  • This Focus issue highlights current research at the intersection of ageing and cancer, and explores how insights gained from this may lead to better cancer prevention strategies and diagnostics, enhanced therapeutic efficacy and improvements to both patient quality of life and outcomes.

    Editorial
Artistic depiction of time passing: sand flows through an hourglass, with a baby's face in the sand at the top, flowing through to an elderly face at the bottom.

Ageing and Cancer

Ageing is a fundamental driver of cancer, fostering the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes that disrupt cellular homeostasis, promote immune system decline, alter systemic metabolism and increase cellular senescence.
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