Researchers at the University of Chicago have shed light on the role of tumor-promoting factors induced by radiotherapy and their potential impact on future therapeutic strategies. The article, published in Nature on May 14, 2025, points to radiation-induced amphiregulin as a key driver of tumor metastasis.

A novel bispecific immunotherapy developed by Roche AG to target pancreatic cancer showed promising results combined with radiation therapy in preclinical trials carried out at the University of Colorado.

Varian Medical Systems Inc. received an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the U.S. FDA to start a clinical trial evaluating its new radiation therapy. The experimental treatment, named Flash, delivers radiation at ultra-high dose rates, typically in less than one second. The Siemens Healthineers AG company said the therapy is capable of being over 100 times faster than conventional radiation therapy.

The U.S. FDA’s device center continues to promote alternatives to ethylene oxide (EtO) as a medical device sterilant, with the latest development involving radiation as a sterilizing technology. The agency said it may open a new master file program for radiation that follows an existing program that is agnostic as to sterilization method, and which may speed the adoption of alternative sterilization methods in the years ahead. The FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health recently announced a pilot program for alternatives to EtO sterilization that would eliminate a significant number of regulatory filings.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are all the rage in 2022 when it comes to medical radiology, but regulators across the globe are struggling to devise regulatory frameworks that ensure safety and efficacy without strangling innovation. There are a number of other stakeholders in this sphere of med tech, however, each with their own considerations. In this six-part series, BioWorld will examine these considerations in an effort to characterize the working environment for AI and ML as it exists now, and what that environment might look like in the years ahead.

Researchers have uncovered a new pathway via which cancer cells evade the effects of radiation by deploying self-inflicted – but reversible – DNA breaks to stop the cell cycle and ensure their survival. The lesions are caused by caspase-activated DNase (CAD), an enzyme involved in DNA fragmentation during cell death. In response to radiation, tumor cells activate CAD, causing genome-wide DNA breaks at sites involved in DNA repair.

Researchers have uncovered a new pathway via which cancer cells evade the effects of radiation by deploying self-inflicted – but reversible – DNA breaks to stop the cell cycle and ensure their survival.