September 5, 2021 – New York, NY: Memorial Sloan Kettering Photo shoot with patient in Madison Square Park. CREDIT: Karsten Moran for MSK **Image may have been staged or digitally modified

Researchers from UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center in Texas found that lactate may have an anti-tumor effect when used in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors. They also found that lactate might enhance the impact of a vaccine to fight cancer. The study was conducted on mice. Lactate is a by-product produced after strenuous exercise. If confirmed in human studies, the finding would emphasize exercise’s importance in fighting cancer. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Also, another study by researchers in Denmark showed the impact of exercise on suppressing tumor growth. The authors hypothesized that exercise might strengthen the immune response. This study was also preclinical, done on mice, and additional research in controlled clinical trials is needed to confirm those preliminary results. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research in London identified a protein, GREM1, essential in regulating pancreatic cancer tumor cells. Their study used two models, a mouse model, and a tumor organoid model. By switching the protein GREM1 on and off, the authors showed that different levels of GREM1 could either produce more aggressive and invasive tumor cells or revert tumor cells to less aggressive forms. While those results are still preliminary, the authors hope their findings could help develop new treatments for pancreatic cancer, which has proven, so far, very difficult to treat. The study was published in Nature.

In a study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the authors show that surveillance programs for people at high risk of developing pancreatic cancer are crucial for effectively treating this type of cancer. “The five-year survival to date of patients with a surveillance-detected pancreatic cancer is 73.3%, and median overall survival is 9.8 years, compared with 1.5 years for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer outside surveillance.” The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In a new study, a team of researchers highlights the benefits of prostate cancer screening, especially among Black men. Since implementing prostate-specific antigen screening (PSA) in the 80s, there have been controversies as those screenings may lead to over-diagnosis. The authors used epidemiologic data from 30 years of health records to study possible screening related tradeoffs. The study results showed that “for Black men diagnosed with prostate cancer using PSA, the test prevented one death for every eight to 12 men”. The researchers showcase the importance of updating the clinical guidelines, especially guidelines where race-specific recommendations are exceedingly lacking. The study was published in NEJM Evidence on May 15.

For guidelines to be inclusive, changes must also be implemented in clinical trial enrollment. The Food and Drug Administration is working on making the trials more inclusive, as described by Lola Fashoyin-Aje, Deputy Division Director & Assoc. Dir, Science & Policy to Address Disparities, Oncology Center of Excellence- FDA.