In this Review, Kennel and Greten highlight the role of immune cells in colorectal cancer (CRC) development, progression and metastasis as well as the impact of therapies on the immune microenvironment. They emphasize the need for novel strategies to enhance immunogenicity and CRC patient stratification to improve outcomes.

Ageing reshapes immune composition, function and regenerative capacity, with profound effects on tumour immunity, cancer progression and treatment outcomes. In this Review, Dolan and colleagues examine how age-resolved immunoprofiling, insights from ageing haematopoiesis and preclinical modelling are uncovering immune ageing dynamics and therapeutic challenges — revealing new opportunities to optimize cancer therapy across diverse age groups.

Digital twins are virtual representations that evolve over time with new data inputs. In this Comment, Asghar and Chung describe cancer applications of digital twins that include the integration of molecular information and individual drug responses of patients, and explain how they can inform individualized treatment, accelerate drug development through clinical trial simulation and enable the exploration of multiscale relationships in the entire human body to drive new therapeutic discoveries.

In this Review, Henry and DeGregori discuss the contributions of the various models and methods used to study the connection between ageing and cancer, highlighting the strengths and limitations of those models and technologies, as well as advocating for the wider adoption of age-appropriate models of cancer to improve our clinical translation of approaches to prevent and treat human cancers.

In this Perspective, Lazure and Gomes argue that metabolic changes that occur as a result of ageing may shape tumour initiation and progression and the development of metastatic disease.

Nature Reviews Cancer, Published online: 24 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41568-025-00848-1In this Review, Parida and Malladi summarize the metabolic adaptations of tumour cells upon dissemination to the brain, outline the metabolic crosstalk between cancer and brain-resident cells and discuss potential strategies to target these adaptations to improve outcomes for patients with brain metastasis.

Comparative oncology combines evolutionary biology, ecology, veterinary medicine and clinical oncology to better understand cancer, for example, by identifying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the remarkable cancer resistance of some taxa. Therefore, this Perspective by Vincze et al. calls for the increased use of non-conventional model organisms in cancer research to advance cancer prevention and treatment strategies.

Nature Reviews Cancer, Published online: 07 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41568-024-00787-3Dendritic cells (DCs) shape the adaptive immune response to peripheral tissue antigens and, as such, are crucial for mounting an effective antitumour immune response…

Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X.

The Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap) is a data repository and research platform that can be utilized to systematically identify cancer vulnerabilities. Here Arafeh, Shibue et al. outline the current lim...

Genetic predisposition is the major known cause of cancer in children and adolescents. In this Review, Kratz highlights the genetic architecture of cancer in children and adolescents, examining cancer...

Job Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Locations: New York or Berlin (Hybrid working model) Application Deadline: December 15th, 2024 About Springer Nature Group Springer Nature opens the doors...

The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in cancer development and progression, by influencing the host immune system and metabolism.