Paper of the Month

We like to recognise the huge amounts of work and creativity that go into carrying out and publishing great cancer research.
One way we do this is through our Paper of the Month award, which is decided by the Executive Board.
Take a look at our winning papers below:

 

Paper of the Month, August 2024

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase inhibition is toxic to acute myeloid leukemia displaying high levels of the de novo fatty acid biosynthesis and desaturation
Winner: Paolo Gallipoli

Vilma Dembitz, Hannah Lawson, Richard Burt, Sirisha Natani, Céline Philippe, Sophie C. James, Samantha Atkinson, Jozef Durko, Lydia M. Wang, Joana Campos, Aoife M. S. Magee, Keith Woodley, Michael J. Austin, Ana Rio-Machin, Pedro Casado, Findlay Bewicke-Copley, Giovanny Rodriguez Blanco, Diego Pereira-Martins, Lieve Oudejans, Emeline Boet, Alex von Kriegsheim, Juerg Schwaller, Andrew J. Finch, Bela Patel, Jean-Emmanuel Sarry, Jerome Tamburini, Jan Jacob Schuringa, Lori Hazlehurst, John A. Copland III, Mariia Yuneva, Barrie Peck, Pedro Cutillas, Jude Fitzgibbon, Kevin Rouault-Pierre, Kamil Kranc & Paolo Gallipoli

Leukemia. 2024 Aug 26.

Paper of the Month archive

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase inhibition is toxic to acute myeloid leukemia displaying high levels of the de novo fatty acid biosynthesis and desaturation

Winner: Paolo Gallipoli

Leukemia. 2024 Aug 26.


Circulating Tumor DNA Assessment for Treatment Monitoring Adds Value to PSA in Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer

Winner: Thomas Powles

Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Sep 13;30(18):4115-4122.


Pivotal role of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related XBP1s/miR-22/SIRT1 axis in acute myeloid leukemia apoptosis and response to chemotherapy.

Winner: Kevin Rouault-Pierre

Leukemia. 2024 Aug;38(8):1764-1776.


Loss of POLE3-POLE4 unleashes replicative gap accumulation upon treatment with PARP inhibitors

Winner: Roberto Bellelli 

Cell Rep. 2024 May 28;43(5):114205.


Overall Survival with Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Renal-Cell Carcinoma

Winner: Tom Powles

N Engl J Med. 2024 Apr 18;390(15):1359-1371.


The selective prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor IOX5 stabilizes HIF-1α and compromises development and progression of acute myeloid leukemia

Winner: Kamil Kranc

Nat Cancer. 2024 Jun;5(6):916-937.


Enfortumab Vedotin and Pembrolizumab in Untreated Advanced Urothelial Cancer

Winner: Tom Powles

N Engl J Med. 2024 Mar 7;390(10):875-888.


Pegargiminase Plus First-Line Chemotherapy in Patients With Nonepithelioid Pleural Mesothelioma: The ATOMIC-Meso Randomized Clinical Trial

Winner: Peter Szlosarek

JAMA Oncol. 2024 Apr 1;10(4):475-483.


Isolation of Live Immune Cells from the Tumor Microenvironment by FACS

Winner: Luigi Ombrato

Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2748:1-12. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3593-3_1.

Impact of Double Expression of MYC and BCL-2 on Outcomes in Primary CNS Lymphoma: A UK Multicentre Analysis

Winner: Jessica Okosun

Blood Adv . 2023 Dec 1:bloodadvances.2023011426. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023011426.


Opposing roles for ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 in myofibroblast differentiation and function

Winner: Richard Grose

J Pathol . 2024 Jan;262(1):90-104. doi: 10.1002/path.6214. Epub 2023 Nov 6.


S100PBP is regulated by mutated KRAS and plays a tumour suppressor role in pancreatic cancer

Winner: Tatjana Crnogorac-Jurcevic

Oncogene. 2023 Nov;42(46):3422-3434. doi: 10.1038/s41388-023-02851-y. Epub 2023 Oct 4.


Prognostic Factors for Relapse in Patients With Clinical Stage I Testicular Seminoma: A Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study

Winner: Daniel Berney

J Clin Oncol. 2023 Sep 8:JCO2300959


CRISPR/dCas9 DNA methylation editing is heritable during human hematopoiesis and shapes immune progeny

Winner: Gabriella Ficz and Emily Saunderson

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Aug 22;120(34):e2300224120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2300224120. Epub 2023 Aug 14.


Centrosome amplification fine tunes tubulin acetylation to differentially control intracellular organization

Winner: Susana Godinho, Pedro Monteiro and Bongwhan Yeon

EMBO J. 2023 Aug 15;42(16):e112812. doi: 10.15252/embj.2022112812. Epub 2023 Jul 5.


ADAMTS3 restricts cancer invasion in models of early breast cancer progression through enhanced fibronectin degradation

Winner: Richard Grose and Shayin Gibson

Matrix Biol. 2023 Jun 17;S0945-053X(23)00074-4. doi: 10.1016/j.matbio.2023.06.005.


Extracellular matrix educates an immunoregulatory tumor macrophage phenotype found in ovarian cancer metastasis

Winner: Oliver Pearce and Eleanor Tyler

Nat. Commun. 2023 May 15;14(1):2514. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38093-5.


Mannose metabolism inhibition sensitizes acute myeloid leukaemia cells to therapy by driving ferroptotic cell death.

Winner: Paolo Gallipoli and Keith Woodley

Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 14;14(1):2132. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37652-0.


Purinergic GPCR-integrin interactions drive pancreatic cancer cell invasion

Winner: Richard Grose and Elena Tomas Bort

Elife. 2023 Mar 21;12:e86971. doi: 10.7554/eLife.86971.


Phase II Study Investigating the Safety and Efficacy of Savolitinib and Durvalumab in Metastatic Papillary Renal Cancer (CALYPSO)

Winner: Thomas Powles

J Clin Oncol. 2023 Feb 21;JCO2201414. doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.01414.


LAP1 supports nuclear adaptability during constrained melanoma cell migration and invasion.

Winner: Victoria Sanz-Moreno

Nat Cell Biol. 2023 Jan;25(1):108-119. doi: 10.1038/s41556-022-01042-3. Epub 2023 Jan 9.

 

Nuclear FGFR1 promotes pancreatic stellate cell-driven invasion through up-regulation of Neuregulin 1

Winner: Richard Grose

Oncogene. 2023 Feb;42(7):491-500. doi: 10.1038/s41388-022-02513-5. Epub 2022 Nov 10.

The evolutionary dynamics of extrachromosomal DNA in human cancers

Winner: Benjamin Werner

Nat Genet 54, 1527–1533 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01177-x


MYC sensitises cells to apoptosis by driving energetic demand

Winner: Andy Finch

Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 9;13(1):4674. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32368-z.


Pembrolizumab plus Chemotherapy in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Winner: Peter Schmid

N Engl J Med. 2022 Jul 21;387(3):217-226. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2202809.


Comparative effectiveness of ZUMA-5 (axi-cel) vs SCHOLAR-5 external control in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma

Winner: John Gribben

Blood. 2022 Jun 9;blood.2021014375. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021014375.


MHC class II molecules on pancreatic cancer cells indicate a potential for neo-antigen-based immunotherapy

Winners: Renato Baleeiro and Yaohe Wang

Oncoimmunology. 2022 May 27;11(1):2080329. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2022.2080329. eCollection 2022.


Targeting the lysine-specific demethylase 1 rewires kinase networks and primes leukemia cells for kinase inhibitor treatment

Winner: Pedro Cutillas

Sci Signal. 2022 Apr 19;15(730):eabl7989. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.abl7989.


PHGDH is required for germinal center formation and is a therapeutic target in MYC-driven lymphoma

Winner: John Riches

J Clin Invest. 2022 Mar 22;e153436. doi: 10.1172/JCI153436.


Event-free Survival with Pembrolizumab in Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Winner: Peter Schmid

N Engl J Med. 2022 Feb 10;386(6):556-567. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2112651.


Disruption of pancreatic stellate cell myofibroblast phenotype promotes pancreatic tumor invasion

Winners: Liz Murray, Shinelle Menezes & Angus Cameron

Cell Rep. 2022 Jan 25;38(4):110227. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110227.


Avelumab maintenance in advanced urothelial carcinoma: biomarker analysis of the phase 3 JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial

Winner: Thomas Powles

Nat Med. 2021 Dec;27(12):2200-2211. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01579-0. Epub 2021 Dec 10.


Lung cancer mortality reduction by LDCT screening: UKLS randomised trial results and international meta-analysis

Winner: Stephen Duffy

Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2021 Sep 11;10:100179. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100179. eCollection 2021 Nov.


CITED2 coordinates key hematopoietic regulatory pathways to maintain the HSC pool in both steady-state hematopoiesis and transplantation

Winners: Hannah Lawson & Kamil Kranc

Stem Cell Reports. 2021 Nov 9;16(11):2784-2797. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.10.001. Epub 2021 Oct 28.


Adipocytes disrupt the translational programme of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to favour tumour survival and persistence

Winners: Quentin Heydt & Bela Wrench

Nat Commun. 2021 Sep 17;12(1):5507. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25540-4.


A preclinical pipeline to evaluate migrastatics as therapeutic agents in metastatic melanoma

Winners: Oscar Maiques & Eva Crosas-Molist

Br J Cancer. 2021 Aug;125(5):699-713. doi: 10.1038/s41416-021-01442-6. Epub 2021 Jun 25.


First-line atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: IMpassion130 final overall survival analysis.

Winner: Peter Schmid

Ann Oncol. 2021 Aug;32(8):983-993. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2021.05.355. Epub 2021 Jul 1.


ctDNA guiding adjuvant immunotherapy in urothelial carcinoma

Winner: Tom Powles

Nature. 2021 Jul;595(7867):432-437. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03642-9. Epub 2021 Jun 16.


An adaptive, biomarker-directed platform study of durvalumab in combination with targeted therapies in advanced urothelial cancer

Winner: Tom Powles

Nat Med. 2021 May;27(5):793-801. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01317-6. Epub 2021 May 3.


Chemotherapy induces tumor-associated macrophages that aid adaptive immune responses in ovarian cancer

Winner: Owen Heath & Fran Balkwill

Cancer Immunol Res. 2021 Apr 10;canimm.0968.2020. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-20-0968. Online ahead of print.


Drug ranking using machine learning systematically predicts the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs

Winner: Henry Gerdes, Pedro Casado, Arran Dokal, Maruan Hijazi & Pedro Cutillas

Nat Commun. 2021 Mar 25;12(1):1850. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22170-8.


Centrosome amplification mediates small extracellular vesicle secretion via lysosome disruption

Winner: Sophie Adams & Susana Godinho

Curr Biol. 2021 Feb 9;S0960-9822(21)00061-0. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.028. Online ahead of print.


CEACAM7 Is an Effective Target for CAR T-cell Therapy of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Winner: Deepak Raj and John Marshall

Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Jan 21. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2163. Online ahead of print.

A combination of urinary biomarker panel and PancRISK score for earlier detection of pancreatic cancer: A case-control study

Winner: Silvana Debernardi and Tatjana Crnogorac-Jurcevic

PLoS Med. 2020 Dec 10;17(12):e1003489. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003489. eCollection 2020 Dec.


Subcellular mRNA Localization Regulates Ribosome Biogenesis in Migrating Cells

Winner: Maria Dermit & Faraz Mardakheh

Dev Cell. 2020 Nov 9;55(3):298-313.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2020.10.006.


WNT11-FZD7-DAAM1 signalling supports tumour initiating abilities and melanoma amoeboid invasion

Winner: Irene Rodriguez-Hernandez and Victoria Sanz-Moreno

Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 20;11(1):5315. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18951-2.


Evolutionary dynamics of neoantigens in growing tumors

Winner: Eszter Lakatos & Trevor Graham

Nat Genet. (2020) Oct;52(10):1057-1066. doi: 10.1038/s41588-020-0687-1. Epub 2020 Sep 14.


Avelumab Maintenance Therapy for Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

Winner: Thomas Powles

N Engl J Med. (2020) Sep 24;383(13):1218-1230. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2002788. Epub 2020 Sep 18.

This paper also won Paper of the Year 2020


Effect of mammographic screening from age 40 years on breast cancer mortality (UK Age trial): final results of a randomised, controlled trial.

Winner: Stephen Duffy & Sue Moss

Lancet Oncol. (2020) Aug 12;S1470-2045(20)30398-3. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30398-3. Online ahead of print.


Transition to naïve human pluripotency mirrors pan-cancer DNA hypermethylation

Winner: Hemalvi Patani & Gabriela Ficz

Nat Commun 11, 3671 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17269-3


A PI3K- and GTPase-independent Rac1-mTOR mechanism mediates MET-driven anchorage-independent cell growth but not migration

Winner: Stephanie Kermorgant

Sci Signal (2020) 13(637):eaba8627. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.aba8627. 


Cancer Burden Is Controlled by Mural Cell-β3-Integrin Regulated Crosstalk With Tumor Cells

Winner: Ping-Pui Wong, José M Muñoz-Félix & Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke

Cell (2020) May 28;S0092-8674(20)30147-1. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.003. Online ahead of print.

This paper also won Paper of the Year 2020


A case-control evaluation of 143 single nucleotide polymorphisms for breast cancer risk stratification with classical factors and mammographic density

Winner: Adam Brentnall

Int J Cancer. 2020 Apr 15;146(8):2122-2129. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32541. Epub 2019 Jul 13.


Cancer associated fibroblast FAK regulates malignant cell metabolism

Winner: Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke & Fevzi Demircioglu 

Nat Commun. 2020 Mar 10;11(1):1290. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15104-3.


Pembrolizumab for Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Winner: Peter Schmid

N Engl J Med (2020) Feb 27;382(9):810-821. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1910549.


Reconstructing kinase network topologies from phosphoproteomics data reveals cancer-associated rewiring.

Winner: Pedro Cutillas

Nat Biotechnol (2020) Jan 20. doi: 10.1038/s41587-019-0391-9. [Epub ahead of print].

Capivasertib Plus Paclitaxel Versus Placebo Plus Paclitaxel As First-Line Therapy for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: The PAKT Trial.

Winner: Peter Schmid

J Clin Oncol (2019) Dec 16:JCO1900368. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.00368. [Epub ahead of print].


Use of anastrozole for breast cancer prevention (IBIS-II): long-term results of a randomised controlled trial.

Winner: Jack Cuzick 

Lancet (2019) Dec 11. pii: S0140-6736(19)32955-1. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32955-1. [Epub ahead of print]


A Virus-Infected, Reprogrammed Somatic cell-derived Tumor cell (VIReST) vaccination regime can prevent initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer.

Winner: Yaohe Wang

Clin Cancer Res (2019) pii: clincanres.1395.2019. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-1395.


A Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Multigene Testing for All Patients With Breast Cancer.

Winner: Li Sun & Ranjit Manchanda

JAMA Oncol (2019) Oct 3. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.3323.


Casein kinase 1 family proteins promote Slimb-dependent Expanded degradation.

Winner: Paulo Ribeiro

Elife (2019) Sep 30;8. pii: e46592. doi: 10.7554/eLife.46592.


Fulvestrant Plus Vistusertib vs Fulvestrant Plus Everolimus vs Fulvestrant Alone for Women With Hormone Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer: The MANTA Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.

Winner: Peter Schmid

JAMA Oncol. 2019 Aug 29. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.2526. [Epub ahead of print]


The integrin αvβ6 drives pancreatic cancer through diverse mechanisms and represents an effective target for therapy

Winner: Claire Reader and John Marshall

J Pathol. 2019 Jul 1. doi: 10.1002/path.5320. [Epub ahead of print]


Tumor angiogenesis is differentially regulated by phosphorylation of endothelial cell focal adhesion kinase tyrosines-397 and -861

Winner: Ana-Rita Pedrosa and Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke

Cancer Research. June 12, 2019 doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-3934


Targeting the RNA m6A Reader YTHDF2 Selectively Compromises Cancer Stem Cells in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

Winner: Kamil Kranc

Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Jul 3;25(1):137-148.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2019.03.021. Epub 2019 Apr 25.


Pembrolizumab plus Axitinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma.

Winner: Tom Powles

N Engl J Med (2019) Mar 21;380(12):1116-1127. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1816714. Epub 2019 Feb 16.


A Phase I study of pegylated arginine deiminase (pegargiminase), cisplatin and pemetrexed in argininosuccinate synthetase 1-deficient recurrent high-grade glioma

Winner: Peter W. Szlosarek

Clin Cancer Res (2019) Feb 22. pii: clincanres.3729.2018. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-3729. [Epub ahead of print]


Regional Activation of Myosin II in Cancer Cells Drives Tumor Progression via a Secretory Cross-Talk with the Immune Microenvironment

Winner: Victoria Sanz-Moreno

Cell (2019), 176, 1–18 (article online ahead of press)

This paper also won Paper of the Year 2019

Inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity in cancer-associated fibroblasts of human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Winner: Cindy Neuzillet & Hemant M. Kocher

J Pathol (2018) Dec 21. doi: 10.1002/path.5224. [Epub ahead of print]


Oxidative Stress in Cells with Extra Centrosomes Drives Non-Cell-Autonomous Invasion

Winner: Theresa Arnandis & Susana Godinho

Dev Cell (2018) Nov 19;47(4):409-424.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.10.026.


Prp8 regulates oncogene-induced hyperplastic growth in Drosophila

Winner: Cecilia H. Fernández-Espartero & Paulo S. Ribeiro

Development (2018) Oct 17. pii: dev.162156. doi: 10.1242/dev.162156. [Epub ahead of print]


Atezolizumab and Nab-Paclitaxel in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Winner: Peter Schmid

N Engl J Med (2018) Oct 20. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1809615. [Epub ahead of print]


Long-term Clinical Outcomes and Biomarker Analyses of Atezolizumab Therapy for Patients With Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Phase 1 Study

Winner: Peter Schmid

JAMA Oncol (2018) Sep 13. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.4224. [Epub ahead of print]


The evolutionary landscape of colorectal tumorigenesis

Winner: Will Cross & Trevor Graham

Nat Ecol Evol (2018) Aug 31. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0642-z. [Epub ahead of print]