Here are a few newsworthy items in the world of cancer research:

• Researchers at the University of Iowa are documenting in real time and in 3-D how melanoma cells form tumors. By using 3-D reconstruction software, scientists can demonstrate how breast tissue cancer cells and melanoma form tumors. Findings reported in PLOS One.
• New technology developed by MIT engineers, can detect tiny ovarian tumors. In mice studies, scientists have been able to detect tumors smaller than 2 millimeters in diameter. For more on this study, see Nature Biomedical Engineering.
• A phase one study of 11 Glioblastoma patients conducted by researchers at Duke University Medical Center shows promise of immunotherapy when combined with chemotherapy. The patients received an investigational vaccine and the drug temozolomide. Results are published in Clinical Cancer Research.
• Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center uncover critical pathway by which pancreatic cells turn off the immune system charged with attacking them. Findings appear in Nature Medicine.