2026-09-15
Raymond Chen, Aobo He, Håvard T. Lindholm, Daniel D. De Carvalho
Viral mimicry is the activation of antiviral immune responses by endogenous nucleic acids that have accumulated in the cytosol. In this Review, Chen et al. highlight how cancer-associated epigenetic and transcriptional dysregulation promotes the generation of immunogenic nucleic acids, which can limit tumour progression. They further outline the mechanisms tumours use to suppress these responses, and the evidence that escape from viral mimicry is central to tumour evolution and a potential target for therapy.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00977-12026-09-11
Miriam Mutebi
Despite remarkable advances in our understanding of breast cancer biology and in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, outcomes remain deeply influenced by where people live, how health systems function and whether care pathways are effectively coordinated. In this Comment, Miriam Mutebi outlines how we can translate innovation into equitable patient benefits.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00982-42026-09-09
Giulio Caravagna, Trevor A. Graham, Andrea Sottoriva
Population genetics provides a quantitative framework for interpreting cancer genomes as records of tumour evolution. This Review outlines how models of mutation, selection and drift enable inference of tumour dynamics from sequencing data, distinguish genetic and non-genetic processes, and support extraction of evolutionary trajectories beyond pattern-based statistical genomics.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00973-52026-09-08
Allan Balmain, René Bernards, Hans Clevers, Karen H. Vousden, Paul Workman, Marinka Zitnik
To mark the 25th anniversary of Nature Reviews Cancer, six researchers reflect on the conceptual advances that have reshaped cancer research — from somatic mosaicism, functional genomics and cancer stem cells to tumour metabolism, precision oncology and artificial intelligence — and consider which ideas transformed the field, which fell short of expectations, and what challenges remain.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00974-42026-09-08
Franco Izzo, Tamara Prieto, Catherine Potenski, Dan A. Landau
In this Review, Izzo et al. discuss how single-cell multimodal sequencing enables genotype–phenotype mapping and, when combined with phylogenetic reconstruction, provide insights into clonal evolution, cell state plasticity, and cancer progression, revealing mutant-specific vulnerabilities and offering a framework to study somatic evolution across pre-malignant and malignant human tissues.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00970-82026-09-07
Markus I. Diehl, Pamela A. Basto, Matthew A. Abikenari, Ian L. Linde, Derick Okwan-Duodu, Edgar G. Engleman
Neutrophils exhibit context-dependent pro-tumour and antitumour functions in cancer. In this Review, Diehl, Basto et al. examine neutrophil roles in tumour progression and metastasis, drawing parallels with non-cancer contexts and highlight emerging strategies to therapeutically target and reprogramme neutrophil biology in cancer.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00968-22026-09-07
Myriam Chalabi, Tim H. H. Coorens, Leanne Li, James L. Reading, Shensi Shen, Ewa Szczurek
To mark the 25th anniversary of Nature Reviews Cancer, six emerging cancer researchers share their perspectives on the future of the field, highlighting conceptual opportunities, challenging established paradigms and identifying the approaches they believe will drive progress in the field over the next 25 years.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00975-32026-09-02
Daniela Senft
Megakaryocytes contribute substantially to the pathogenesis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), but therapeutic strategies targeting this lineage are lacking. Wen, Cotton et al. demonstrate that menin inhibition impairs megakaryocyte differentiation, suppresses myelofibrosis and improves disease features across preclinical MPN models.
DOI: 10.1038/s41568-026-00981-52026-03-26
Yan-Ran Joyce Wang, Akshay S. Chaudhari
Nature Reviews Cancer, Published online: 26 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41568-026-00923-1 Tumour boards are often constrained by time-intensive data preparation and discussion. In this Comment, Wang and Chaudhari advocate for the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven smart patient-retrieval systems to facilitate more informed and individualized clinical decision-making.
2026-03-23
Thomas B. Chadwick, Joan So, Paul J. Hertzog, Nicole M. Haynes, Belinda S. Parker
Nature Reviews Cancer, Published online: 23 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41568-026-00915-1 Type I interferons (IFNs) critically influence cancer development, progression and therapeutic response. In this Review, Parker, Haynes and colleagues explore the complexity of IFN signalling, with a particular focus on tumour-intrinsic mechanisms, and outline strategies for reprogramming IFN activity in tumours to enhance anticancer immunity and improve patient outcomes.
2026-03-20
Victoria Rodríguez-Lelis, Mariana Gómez-Schiavon
Nature Reviews Cancer, Published online: 20 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41568-026-00924-0 In this Journal Club, Rodríguez-Lelis and Gómez-Schiavon discuss a study that challenges the oncogene-induced senescence paradigm and proposes that cooperative, feedback-driven growth arrest better explains growth dynamics in BRAF-mutant benign nevi.