CANCER

A study published in the Journal of Cancer Policy found that many children with cancer in India must travel long distances to reach specialised paediatric cancer centres. The report highlights how travel time can delay access to diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care.

India's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has capped trade margins at 30% of the maximum retail price for 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines. The revised prices are due to take effect on 9 November, potentially reducing the cost of selected cancer treatments for patients.

A new research paper published on 2 November in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy reports a randomised phase 2 study, METIS, examining neoadjuvant treatment strategies for HER2-positive breast cancer. It evaluates how anthracycline-containing chemotherapy is sequenced with HER2-targeted agents.

A report published by The Indian Express on 29 October 2026 describes price reductions for selected cancer medicines following changes to pharmaceutical trade margins and pricing. The reported reductions include the chemotherapy drug thiotepa and the breast cancer immunotherapy-related medicine pertuzumab. The changes could improve affordability for eligible patients, although the actual savings depend on the medicine, formulation, dose, and treatment plan.

AstraZeneca has reported encouraging results for its experimental cancer drug sonesitatug vedotin, also called Sone-Ve, in patients with previously treated advanced stomach and related gastrointestinal cancers. Results presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress on 25 October 2026 showed improved overall survival compared with physician-selected treatments, although progression-free survival results were less conclusive.

News-Medical reported on 26 October that results from the Phase 3 EMT2 trial showed longer overall survival among patients who received high-dose eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) before and after surgery for colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver, compared with placebo. The results were presented at the 2026 ESMO Congress.

Reuters reported on 22 October that Moderna and Merck announced Phase 3 results for their personalised mRNA cancer vaccine, intismeran autogene, combined with pembrolizumab (Keytruda). The combination reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% compared with pembrolizumab alone in the reported trial of more than 1,100 patients.

ScienceDaily reported on 19 October that researchers studying arthritis associated with cancer immunotherapy found evidence that immune cells can remember earlier attacks and return in a more aggressive state. The findings could help scientists develop strategies to prevent recurrent joint inflammation.

ScienceDaily reported on 21 October that a large study involving more than 460,000 Americans found no overall association between ultra-processed food intake and colorectal cancer. The result challenges a broad assumption but does not establish that ultra-processed foods are healthy or harmless.

Medical Xpress reported on 20 October that a new PET imaging approach detected 97.9% of lesions in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma, a common form of kidney cancer. Better lesion detection could help clinicians assess the location and extent of disease.

Reuters reported on 19 October that Roche plans to present new cancer-trial results at the upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2026 congress. The planned presentations include data on divarasib for lung cancer, giredestrant for breast cancer and an experimental combination known as Tam-Peli.

Research reported on 16 October by ScienceDaily described findings from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Activating PPARD in immune cells improved their fat-burning activity and tumour-fighting ability in laboratory experiments. The research covered colorectal, breast and ovarian cancers, as well as melanoma.