Nowadays, there are many tools for cancer diagnosis, from imaging techniques to biopsies. In traditional blood tests, liquid biopsy bursts onto the scene as an explosion of possibilities driven by molecular techniques for the detection and sequencing of proteins or genetic material. But specialists are cautious because they know that in liquid biopsies not everything is detected. At the ENA 2022 session “The role of ctDNA in clinical trials,” Marie Morfouace, a translational researcher at the EORTC, presented “ctDNA in clinical trial practice today,” where she described the balance of the possibilities of the liquid biopsy when confronting it with the results in patients offered by the studies published to date.

Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (KRAS) is one of the GTPases from the RAS family activating signaling pathways that regulate cell functions. KRAS mutation of glycine to aspartate at position 12 (G12D) is a common mutation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and other solid tumors. ASP-3082 is a proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) under development by Astellas Pharma Inc. The company has presented the first in vitro and in vivo results of this new compound.

Diwali, the Festival of Light, marks different events depending on where it is celebrated. In some areas of India, it marks the return of Lord Rama to his birthplace of Ayodhya after defeating the demon Ravana. For Vivek Subbiah, associate professor at the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the story of how Rama defeated Ravana has parallels in drug discovery. Ravana had 10 heads, and when one was cut off, it grew back. Rama defeated Ravana by means of a magic arrow that entered through the demon’s navel.