Nature Cancer, Published online: 01 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01254-8

TP53 gene alterations are common cancer drivers and a focus of intense translational and clinical research. However, effective p53-targeted therapies remain elusive. This Clinical Outlook examines the evolving clinical landscape, highlighting recent advances and emerging strategies for improving outcomes in TP53-mutated malignancies.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 29 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01239-7

Cytology is required for cancer screening and cancer diagnosis, yet most artificial intelligence systems assist cytology at individual tasks and specific specimen types. We developed CROWN, a universal foundation model for cytology that has the potential to support a broad spectrum of diagnostic applications across organs, diseases and clinical settings.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01242-y

Alexandrov and colleagues summarize the current understanding of complex mutational phenomena in human cancers and their associations with therapy and clinical outcomes.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01238-8

Lee and colleagues report that ischemic stroke induces the generation of an astrocytic population that, through reduced calcium signaling, favors the recruitment of tumor-associated macrophages, thereby promoting glioma invasion in preclinical models.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 23 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01244-w

Cancer therapies have evolved substantially in recent decades; however, there remains a pressing need for new therapeutic options. Our Series on Next-Generation Cancer Therapeutics presents commissioned Reviews and opinion pieces on the latest therapeutic approaches and their implementation in the existing clinical landscape.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 22 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01202-6

Cancer cachexia is a common wasting syndrome in individuals with cancer that involves activation of PKA in white adipose tissue, but the mechanisms that control PKA activity are unclear. A study now identifies iron-activated MSRA as a regulator of PKA in cancer cachexia, which reduces oxidized PKA and thereby increases PKA activity.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 22 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01234-y

Chio and colleagues describe an iron-dependent pathway with a role in the induction of cancer cachexia-linked events such as adipose browning and identify methionine sulfoxide reductase A as an important and targetable factor in this process.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 18 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01240-0

Zheng, Zheng, Wang, Zhang et al. developed CROWN, a universal visual foundation model for cytopathology, which they benchmarked on more than 200 real-world cytology tasks across cohorts, including lymph node metastasis and cervical screening datasets.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 14 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01235-x

We identified a metabolic signaling axis that enables pancreatic cancer cells to survive chemotherapy by suppressing ferroptosis. Targeting of the valine catabolism enzyme MMSDH reverses this chemoresistance and shows promise as a potential component of combination strategies against refractory tumors.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 14 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01237-9

Marsoni et al. evaluated the feasibility of a dynamic circulating tumor DNA-guided adjuvant and postadjuvant treatment strategy in patients with resected microsatellite-stable, high-risk stage II or III colon cancer in the phase 2 PEGASUS trial.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 11 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01236-w

Zheng et al. describe how hypoxia-induced methylmalonate semialdehyde dehydrogenase lactylation promotes acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 propionylation and degradation, thereby suppressing ferroptosis induced by chemotherapy, and develop a blocking peptide that increased chemotherapy efficacy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01229-9

Lai et al. show that Nakaseomyces glabratus is enriched in fecal and tumor samples of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and that administration of the fungus accelerates cancer progression in prostate cancer-bearing castrated mice.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 01 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01231-1

The addition of oral l-glutamine to first-line gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel appears safe and is associated with improved survival outcomes and tumor responses compared with historical benchmarks in untreated advanced pancreatic cancer. The beneficial effects of l-glutamine may be mediated through modulation of intermediary metabolism, gut microbial function, inflammatory responses and gut barrier integrity.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 01 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01243-x

Publisher Correction: Adjuvant personalized multivalent neoantigen DNA vaccination for MGMT unmethylated glioblastoma: a phase 1 trial

Nature Cancer, Published online: 01 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01220-4

Chen et al. have developed SlideChat, a multimodal generative artificial intelligence assistant, which they benchmark on 27 pathology tasks across 33 cancer types. Expert pathologists rated the assistant as clinically relevant and accurate.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 31 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01225-z

In this open-label, single-arm, phase 1 GlutaPanc trial, Gong and colleagues report the safety and feasibility of l-glutamine in participants with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and determine the recommended phase 2 dose of l-glutamine in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 25 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01241-z

Author Correction: Low-protein diet enhances antitumor immunity in pancreatic cancer through microbiota-derived UDP-galactose

Nature Cancer, Published online: 25 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01221-3

Chen and colleagues report that the neuropeptide galanin impairs antitumor immunity in glioblastoma by interacting with its receptor GALR3 on monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells, promoting their infiltration and ferroptosis resistance.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01219-x

Paul Mischel obtained his MD from Cornell University Medical College, trained in anatomic and neuropathology at UCLA and did post-doctoral research training in Louis Reichardt’s lab at HHMI/UCSF. He is the Fortinet Founders Professor, vice chair for research for the department of pathology, and deputy director of translational science and an institute scholar at Sarafan ChEM-H, Stanford University. Mischel leads Team eDyNAmiC of the Cancer Grand Challenges Program. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a fellow of the AACR Academy, and past president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Nature Cancer, Published online: 25 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s43018-026-01177-4

Wong et al. uncover a nutritional dependency for acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells that spread to the central nervous system and propose using copper restriction to impair leukemia progression by disrupting nucleotide synthesis through the inhibition of electron transport chain activity.