Tumor cells coexist with diverse immune, stromal, and neural cells in a complex microenvironment. Recent single-cell and spatial transcriptomics have uncovered specialized cell subsets that drive cancer progression, immune evasion, and treatment response. A new review synthesizes these advances, introduces the “virtual tumor” concept for AI-driven ecosystem modeling, and outlines a roadmap from fundamental tumor microenvironment (TME) biology to next-generation precision immunotherapies targeting specific cell populations and their coordinated networks.

Small intestinal cancer is a rare and poorly understood disease, partly because the molecular drivers behind it have remained unclear. Now, researchers from Japan have identified mutations in COPA—a gene involved in cellular cargo transport with no prior link to cancer—as an alternative route to small intestine tumorigenesis. Their findings may help explain how these tumors develop and could inform and advance future diagnosis and treatment strategies.

A propensity score-matched cohort study compared kidney-sparing surgery with radical nephroureterectomy in patients with ureteral urothelial carcinoma. After matching, radical nephroureterectomy was associated with better overall and cancer-specific survival, especially in selected subgroups. The findings support refined risk stratification and careful patient selection

Our congratulations to Ludwig Lausanne’s Johanna Joyce, who began her two-year term today as President of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), a global community of scientists and clinicians dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of cancer and its application to improve patient care.