In this Review, Mempel et al. use our understanding of the physiological response programmes of the immune system to the more commonplace challenges it encounters as a framework to interpret observations of chemokine function in tumours. When viewed in this way, the design of more effective therapeutic interventions leveraging the chemokine system to recalibrate response patterns to cancer might be possible.

Numerous immunomodulatory antibodies for cancer treatment have been developed following the discovery of negative regulators of antitumour immunity such as programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4). The efficacy of these antibodies is determined not only by their ability to block or engage their target but also by their interactions with Fcγ receptors (FcγRs). This Review outlines our current knowledge of these interactions and discusses how we can use this knowledge to generate more effective cancer immunotherapies in the future.

Kong et al. have now shown that Knudson’s two-hit hypothesis can be circumvented through the actions of the glycolytic metabolite methylglyoxal, which transiently inactivates the tumour-suppressive functions of BRCA2 leading to episodic mutagenesis and cancer genome evolution.

In a ‘publish or perish’ culture, some scientists may resort to questionable research practices or even fraud. Scientific paper mills and artificial intelligence increasingly threaten the pursuit of truth in science. Structural changes, including heightened scrutiny of papers and authorship and better funding, are needed to ensure scientific integrity.

Two studies published concurrently in Nature report the development and preclinical activity of RMC-7977, a multi-selective inhibitor targeting the active, GTP-bound form of RAS.

The annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting provides a platform for scientists, clinicians and other stakeholders to share the latest advances in cancer science and medicine. Here, we outline some highlights of the 2024 meeting.

In this Tools of the Trade article, Victor Tieu describes the development of MEGA, a platform that exploits the RNA-targeting capability of CRISPR–Cas13d and demonstrates its use to improve the anti-tumour activity of CAR T cells.

In this Journal Club, Oh and Kim discuss a study demonstrating the mechanisms underlying histological transformation of lung adenocarcinoma to neuroendocrine small-cell lung cancer.