News archive

A new way of producing nanoparticles that can function as carriers in so-called mRNA vaccines has been developed by researchers at the Hong Kong node of Karolinska Institutet – the Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine – and the MIT, USA. Using the method, which is described in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology, the researchers have identified a new class of carrier molecules that inhibit tumour growth and prolong survival in mouse models of cancer.

Women have an increased risk of high-grade cervical lesions returning after surgery if there have been lesions in the resection margin, especially if high-risk HPV (human papillomavirus) is found in the follow-up test, reports a new longitudinal study from Karolinska Institutet published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The researchers also found that many other diseases can be independent risk factors in lesion recurrence.

Young women with early stage ovarian cancer can undergo fertility-preserving surgery without affecting the safety of their cancer treatment, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in a national study published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology.

Three researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded the ERC Starting Grant 2019: Jenny Mjösberg, Maria Genander, and newly recruited Pia Dosenovic. Their projects concern inflammatory bowel disease, esophageal cancers, and HIV vaccine, respectively. In all, the ERC will support 408 early-career researchers from around the world with its prestigious starting grant this year.

The standard treatment for aggressive skin cancer is to surgically remove the tumour. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now show that a 2 cm operational margin is sufficient, as opposed to the close to 4 cm margin previously applied by surgeons. For the study, which is published in The Lancet, the researchers monitored over 900 patients for an average span of 19 years after surgery.

Patients with biliary tract cancer have altered genetic architecture in some immune system receptor systems. This has been shown by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden in a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology. It is hoped that the discovery will lead to new effective immunotherapy for these difficult to treat tumour types.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified blood-based biomarkers that may determine which patients will benefit from continued hormonal therapy for advanced prostate cancer. The results are published in the journal JAMA Oncology. The researchers envision that this discovery may eventually result in a test that contributes to a more personalised treatment of the disease.

Radiation therapy against cancer can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease much later in life, as the radiation causes chronic inflammation of the exposed blood vessels. In a new study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have shown that these inflammations can be treated with IL-1 inhibitors.

Nearly ninety per cent of all cancer patient deaths are due to metastasis. A study from Karolinska Institutet shows that a process that allows the cells to metastasise is aided by the synthesis of new ribosomes, the cell components in which proteins are produced. The results open the possibility for new treatment strategies for advanced cancers. The study is published in Nature Communications.

Carina Strell and colleagues in the Arne Östman research group has published an article in Journal of the National Cancer Institute investigating mechanisms controlling fibroblast functions in ductal breast carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

In the present study Elin Sjöberg and colleagues in the Arne Östman research group have identified that cancer associated fibroblast (CAF)-produced CXCL14 re-activates a developmental program that promote migration and invasion of cancer cells, leading to increased formation of lung metastasis in mice. They also identified a novel CXCL14-signaling component, ACKR2, which is important for the tumor-promoting effects of CXCL14.

Three researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been appointed Wallenberg Scholar in 2019: Ernest Arenas, Sten Linnarsson, and Randal S. Johnson. The researchers – among the foremost in their field in Sweden – receive SEK 18 million each from the Wallenberg Foundations in the form of a five-year grant for free research.

The first Dan Grandér memorial prize for best thesis at Karolinska Institutet in Cancer Research has been awarded to Dr Nicholas Valerie, Department of Oncology-Pathology.

New research on how cancer mutations influence a certain type of receptor on the cell membrane opens the way for the development of tailored drugs for certain cancers, such as rectal cancer and lung cancer.

Individuals with an inherited form of skin cancer often have a poor prognosis. The type of immunotherapy that was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is, however, particularly effective in this patient group, research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows. The study is published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

MTC researcher Kaisa Lehti is featured on AcademiaNet, after a nomination by the Swedish Research Council.

Researchers in the Sonia lain and David Lane groups at MTC have recently published in the journal Nature Communications.