Head-to-head comparison of three mRNA vaccines reveals differences in their stability in human blood

mRNA vaccine development to fight cancer

By Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

A study by Australian researchers compared three mRNA-LNP vaccine platforms in human blood samples, generating findings that could advance cancer treatment and vaccine design.

mRNA-lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) transformed the way that vaccines are delivered to humans when they became widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic.

mRNA-LNPs are tiny parcels, ~800 times smaller than the width of a human hair, made of fatty acids (lipids) and containing cargo (messenger RNA) that needs to be delivered inside the body to generate a treatment response (for example, immunity to a virus).

Today, researchers around the world are investigating mRNA-LNPs as candidates for "cancer vaccines" that would deliver mRNA cargo to boost the patient's immune system and empower it to kill cancer more effectively.

New Lancet study links 12% of global cancer cases to 12 infectious diseases

For most such infections, there are vaccines or vaccines in development

NEWSROOM CLARIN

Let's add preventable cancers to this list

The worldwide incidence analysis, conducted by epidemiologists at the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), evaluated 12 infectious agents classified as Group 1 human carcinogens. 

The findings demonstrate that roughly 1 in every 8 cancers diagnosed globally is linked to an underlying infection, representing a substantial cancer burden that could be prevented or mitigated using existing vaccines, diagnostic screenings, and antimicrobial therapies.

The global proportion of infection-attributable cancers has remained essentially unchanged since the agency's previous assessment in 2018 (which estimated 13%), highlighting persistent gaps in worldwide vaccination uptake, screening infrastructure, and therapeutic access.

The 12 Pathogens: Which Infections Cause Cancer?

The vast majority of infection-driven cancers in 2024 were concentrated among five primary pathogens, with two leading agents responsible for more than 1.5 million cases:

• Helicobacter pylori (760,000 cases / 4% of all global cancers): A common bacterium that colonizes the stomach lining, typically transmitted through contaminated food, water, or poor hygiene. It is the leading cause of non-cardia gastric cancer (accounting for 700,000 cases, or 85% of all non-cardia stomach cancers) and causes cardia gastric cancer (42,000 cases) and gastric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (18,000 cases).
• Human Papillomavirus / HPV (750,000 cases / 4% of all cancers): The primary driver of cervical cancer, which accounted for 600,000 cases (100% attributable to HPV). HPV is also responsible for 58,000 cases of oropharyngeal, tonsil, and base-of-tongue cancers, 32,000 anal squamous cell carcinomas, 18,000 penile cancers, 14,000 vaginal cancers, and 12,000 vulvar cancers.
• Hepatitis B Virus / HBV (360,000 cases / 2% of all cancers): Contracted through blood, sexual contact, contaminated needles, and perinatal transmission from mother to child. It accounts for 330,000 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer) and 27,000 cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
• Epstein-Barr Virus / EBV (260,000 cases / 1% of all cancers): A ubiquitous herpesvirus carried by more than 90% of adults. It was linked to 110,000 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, 78,000 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma, 47,000 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma, 20,000 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and 6,200 cases of Burkitt lymphoma.
• Hepatitis C Virus / HCV (160,000 cases): A bloodborne virus causing chronic hepatitis, responsible for 130,000 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, 17,000 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and 11,000 cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
• Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus / KSHV (35,000 cases): Responsible for 34,000 cases of Kaposi's sarcoma and rare primary effusion lymphomas.
• Other Classified Infectious Agents (19,000 cases combined): Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1, causing 3,900 cases of adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma); Schistosoma haematobium (a parasitic waterborne flatworm causing 5,900 bladder squamous cell carcinomas); liver flukes Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis (causing 3,800 bile duct cancers); Merkel cell polyomavirus (causing 3,200 aggressive Merkel cell skin carcinomas); and HIV (which directly caused 2,300 cases of conjunctival eye cancer and contributed via immunosuppression to tens of thousands of HPV- and KSHV-related cancers).

Studies provide more evidence that HPV vaccines benefit men

It works. It's safe. It stops cancer

Liz Szabo, MA

Three new studies add to a growing body of research showing that men and boys vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) are much less likely than others to be infected with the ubiquitous virus, which can cause cancers of the head and neck, anus, and penis, as well as genital warts.

• A randomized trial from Japan, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases earlier this month, found that Gardasil 9—which protects against nine HPV strains—dramatically reduced the risk of developing anal or genital HPV infections. The vaccine prevented 92% of persistent infections with the most common strains of HPV and 73% caused by strains that are less common but still able to cause cancer. The researchers followed more than 1,000 men for a median of 2.4 years.
• A real-world study from Canada, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases yesterday, focused on gay and bisexual men ages 16 to 23. The study of nearly 1,200 men confirmed that HPV vaccination is most effective when given at a young age, before people are exposed to the virus. Men vaccinated by age 23 were 60% less likely to have anal HPV infections than others in the study. The researchers found no reduction in HPV risk among men vaccinated at age 27 or older.
• A review of 21 studies performed from 2007 to 2024, published in The International Journal of Infectious Diseases last week, found that HPV vaccinations prevent anal, penile, and oral infections in men. Studies included Gardail 9, as well as an earlier vaccine that prevented four HPV strains. While results varied from study to study, researchers from University of Florida and Merck Research Laboratories found that evidence suggests that vaccines provide good protection, ranging from a 51% reduction in the risk of penile HPV infections to a 100% reduction in the risk of oral HPV infections. Merck is the manufacturer of Gardasil 9.

“It’s exciting,” Neil Gross, MD, director of clinical research in the department of head and neck surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center, told CIDRAP News when asked about the new findings.

“We’ve known vaccination is the right thing to do,” said Gross, who was not involved in the studies. “That’s why HPV is recommended as a gender-neutral vaccination strategy. It’s nice to see some data quantifying the benefit.”

Good news for men and public health

HPV affects about 80% of sexually active women and more than 90% of men. A small number of people develop persistent HPV infections, which can lead to cancer. HPV spreads through intimate contact, including vaginal, anal, and oral sex, and even deep kissing. 

The EPA’s data on cancer risk from air pollution has gone dark

Ending your right to know

Sachi Kitajima Mulkey, Reporter

"This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist's weekly newsletter here."

Darya Minovi was mapping pollution from medical sterilization plants across the country when many of the communities she was speaking to began asking the same question. The facilities emit ethylene oxide, a potent carcinogen, and those who lived nearby wanted to know how much the emissions were increasing their cancer risk. She turned to data compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency to find out.

The resulting maps, published in 2023 by the Union of Concerned Scientists (SEE SCREENSHOT BELOW), a nonprofit where Minovi is a researcher, revealed that more than 14 million people lived in a 5-mile radius of ethylene oxide-emitting facilities. Crucially, the map highlighted 23 sterilization facilities that the EPA had found emit ethylene oxide at levels that definitively contribute to elevated cancer risk. The project helped raise awareness and was used to push the government to tighten limits on ethylene oxide emissions.

But now, the cancer risk data that made Minovi’s analysis possible has quietly gone offline. After more than two decades of sharing this information with the public, the Environmental Protection Agency has omitted cancer risk estimates from its latest update to national air pollution data. The agency is continuing to release raw pollution figures, but it is no longer providing information on the additional cancer risk that the emissions cause. It has also not updated its searchable U.S. map of cancer risk from air pollution with the most recent data.

The risk assessments are routinely used by communities to understand the effects of the pollution in their neighborhoods, as well as by journalists and nonprofits to inform the public and hold polluters accountable. Withholding this information would shift the burden of interpreting pollution data — a technically demanding task requiring specialized experience and an understanding of EPA protocols — onto the public, Minovi said, making it harder for communities to access this vital public health information. 

Fructose might undo chemo in ovarian cancer patients

A common sugar may help cancer cells break free and spread

The Wistar Institute

A study from The Wistar Institute has identified a surprising connection between fructose, a widely consumed dietary sugar, and the spread of an aggressive type of ovarian cancer. The findings, published in Nature Aging, suggest that cancer cells that remain after chemotherapy can communicate with nearby tumor cells and make them more likely to spread.

The researchers found that fructose serves as one of the chemical messages released by these treatment-surviving cells. The discovery reveals a previously unknown way that cancer cells left behind after therapy may contribute to metastasis.

"Some cancer cells that survive chemotherapy aren't dividing anymore, but they're still biologically active," said Aidan Cole, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Katherine Aird, Ph.D., at The Wistar Institute and first author on the study. "Instead, they continue to release molecules that send signals to nearby cells. Our study is among the first to show that a nutrient -- in this case, fructose -- can act as one of those signals."

Trump to HIV and Cancer Patients: Get Back to Work

Priorities

By David Dayen

This piece is part of our Trump’s Beautiful Disaster series about the consequences of the mammoth budget law, one year later. You can see all stories in this series here.

Yesterday was the 61st anniversary of the signing of Medicare and Medicaid, a promise by the government to at least care for the oldest and most vulnerable people in our society. Today is the deadline for public comment on a rule that could force severely ill patients with cancer, HIV, and other ailments to get out of their hospital beds and go to work if they want the government to keep that promise.

The new rule, which was spurred by cuts to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) but was not required in the text, adds a layer of bureaucracy for “medically frail” individuals who got a statutory exemption from the law’s new work requirements for health coverage. 

Medical frailty has long been a concept in Medicaid, giving patients suffering from serious conditions the ability to access coverage. But the administration’s interim final rule published last month said that not only would individuals have to exhibit one of the medically frail conditions, but their condition would have to “significantly impair” their ability to work.

“That’s not an existing standard, and there’s no data source for that information,” said Jennifer Wagner with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). This means that states, which are partners in Medicaid, will have to establish an entire regime for verifying “significant impairment” on the fly, and justify it to a federal government that is quick to say that anything resembling expansion of assistance to the poor is actually fraud. “There’s language in the [rule] that says ‘we will hold states accountable’ if they don’t follow this unclear definition precisely,” Wagner said.

So people with serious medical maladies—osteosarcoma patients suffering severe bone weakness, for instance—will have to jump through very undefined bureaucratic hoops to “prove” they cannot work 80 hours a month, with the risk of a coverage loss if that’s denied. Even a temporary coverage gap could be serious. “They will die, they will become sick,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute in Washington. “That’s why we pushed so hard for the exemption, because we know the ramifications of people losing access to health care.”

Schmid cited estimates that 145,000 Americans living with HIV could be affected by the change. About 40 percent of all Americans with HIV rely on Medicaid, according to Schmid.

Coffee may help shield the liver from fat, scarring, and cancer

Another study flags coffee's potential benefits

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

A major long-term study linked coffee consumption with lower risks of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death from liver disease. Coffee drinkers also showed healthier liver scans and blood protein patterns, with less fat, inflammation, and scarring. Benefits appeared even at one or two cups daily and were strongest around three to four cups.

One of the largest investigations yet into coffee and liver health has found that people who drink more coffee tend to have lower risks of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death related to liver disease.

The Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University study, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, also uncovered biological patterns that could help explain why coffee consumption has repeatedly been associated with healthier livers.

"Previous studies suggested that coffee might benefit the liver, but most were smaller or looked at only one piece of the puzzle," said hepatologist Hyunseok Kim, MD, MPH, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai and corresponding author of the study. "We followed hundreds of thousands of people for more than a decade and looked at their health outcomes along with liver MRI scans and blood protein analyses. Together, those findings help explain the biological mechanisms behind coffee's association with better liver health."

Colorectal cancer warning signs younger adults (actually, no one) should never ignore

Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death among people under 50

American College of Surgeons

Colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer related death among people younger than 50. 

Although routine screening generally begins at age 45 for adults at average risk, warning signs can appear earlier and should be discussed with a health care provider at any age.

To help people recognize possible symptoms and speak with their doctors sooner, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has introduced free public education resources and a checklist designed for use before primary care appointments.

Colorectal Cancer Is Rising Fast in Younger Adults, Reversing Decades of Progress

Prevention and screening needed at earlier age

By American Cancer Society

For much of the past century, colorectal cancer was considered a disease of older age. But that picture is changing rapidly. Nearly half of all new colorectal cancer diagnoses in the United States now occur in adults younger than 65, a dramatic increase from just over one-quarter in the mid-1990s, and the disease has become the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50.

A new American Cancer Society (ACS) report shows that this generational shift is accelerating. While colorectal cancer rates continue to decline among older Americans, they are climbing in adults younger than 65, particularly those under 50, suggesting that the decades-long success against one of the nation’s deadliest cancers is becoming increasingly concentrated in older generations.

The trend is being driven largely by cancers arising in the distal colon, the final section of the colon, and the rectum. As a result, rectal cancer now accounts for nearly one-third of all colorectal cancer diagnoses, up from about one-quarter two decades ago. The findings were published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Attention couch potatoes

Hours of uninterrupted sitting could be more dangerous than you think.

By PLOS

A large study found that every additional hour spent in prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary periods each day was associated with a 9% higher risk of dying from cancer. The findings suggest that how people accumulate sedentary time may matter alongside the total amount.

The study, published July 2 in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine, was led by Frederick Ho of the University of Glasgow in the UK and colleagues.

Sedentary behavior includes sitting, reclining, or lying down while awake. It can happen almost anywhere, including at a desk, in a car, or while watching television. Previous research has connected high levels of sedentary time with poorer health, but most guidelines do not distinguish between sitting continuously and sitting for the same amount of time with regular movement breaks.

Ivermectin isn’t a cancer miracle drug, but influencers claim otherwise

Another reason why social media is a bad source of medical information

Dannell D. Boatman, West Virginia University

In the meantime, this happened

Though researchers have been studying the animal deworming drug ivermectin for decades, there is no evidence that it’s a safe or effective way to treat cancer in people.

However, a June 2026 study put the topic back in the spotlight. After being downloaded more than 85,000 times before its official publication, the study gained traction on social media – particularly X – and within alternative health communities, where it was shared widely to bolster broader claims about repurposing antiparasitic drugs as cancer treatments. 

While traditional news outlets were covering renewed public interest in ivermectin for cancer following the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the conversation surrounding this particular new study unfolded outside of mainstream media coverage.

Shortly after the study was published, scientists raised serious concerns about how the study arrived at its findings, conflicts of interest and the peer-review process.

For one, the study did not have a comparison group to determine whether patients taking a combination of ivermectin and another antiparasitic truly saw improvements due to these drugs or the conventional cancer therapies they were also taking. Moreover, the study relied on patients’ own self-reports rather than medical record information. Unlike medical records, self-reports cannot be independently verified and are more susceptible to bias, making them less reliable as scientific evidence.

Although the journal issued an Expression of Concern shortly after publication, the study has not yet been retracted.

This case illustrates a recurring challenge in how science reaches the public. Early findings can spread quickly through news coverage, social media and online communities, while the evidence needed to fully evaluate them can take months or years to develop. By the time additional evidence emerges, many people have already shared the original report or made financial and medical decisions based on it.

As a health communication researcher, I study how people interpret new cancer information, how health misinformation spreads and how communication can support good health behaviors.

The renewed attention surrounding ivermectin and other antiparasitic drugs offers an opportunity to understand why some scientific findings become influential before researchers fully understand what they mean.

Still waiting

mRNA Vaccine Shrinks Deadly Childhood Cancer Tumors by 70%

Advance in the fight against cancer in kids

By Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Irish doctors move forward while Trump and RFK Jr.
push the US backwards by curtailing mRNA vaccines.

The success of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic sparked interest in whether the same technology could be harnessed to fight cancer. Researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences have taken an early step toward that goal, reporting the first preclinical evidence that an mRNA vaccine can target neuroblastoma, the deadliest childhood cancer.

Led by Dr. Olga Piskareva, Senior Lecturer in the RCSI Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine, the team tested an mRNA vaccine delivered using peptide carriers. In preclinical models, the vaccine trained the immune system to recognize and attack neuroblastoma, delaying tumor development by 10 to 11 days and shrinking tumors by 70%.

Neuroblastoma is an aggressive cancer that develops from immature nerve cells and primarily affects infants and young children. Although treatments have improved over the years, high-risk and recurrent cases remain especially difficult to treat, and the disease is responsible for about 15% of all childhood cancer deaths. In Ireland, five to ten children are diagnosed each year, with roughly 80% of patients failing to respond meaningfully to current therapies.

Trump Supreme Court hands German chemical company a huge win

License to kill

By Anika Jane Beamer

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

A Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday limits Americans’ ability to sue pesticide makers over alleged health harms from their products.

The 7-2 decision overturned a 2023 Missouri circuit court ruling that required agrochemical company Monsanto to pay John Durnell of St. Louis $1.25 million in compensatory damages for failing to warn customers of the cancer-causing potential of its popular weedkiller, Roundup.

Durnell said he used the glyphosate-based herbicide for twenty years before developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Glyphosate-based weedkillers make up the bulk of all agricultural pesticide use in the U.S., with farmers and ranchers spraying over 250 million pounds of the chemical across farmland each year. An extensive body of research suggests improper glyphosate use could be linked to endocrine disruption, metabolic disorders, neurological effects and several cancers. Even after application, the chemical may leach into waterways or drift over residential areas.

And it’s not just glyphosate. Nearly all conventional weedkillers, derived from fossil fuels and petroleum byproducts, are believed to present multiple health hazards.

The highly anticipated ruling not only overturns the lower court’s decision, it also sets a legal precedent that all but seals the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits being fought in courtrooms across the country.

The decision also represents a huge victory and financial windfall for Monsanto and its parent chemical company, Bayer, which has spent billions of dollars fighting legal claims linking Roundup to cancer since acquiring Monsanto in 2018.

In a majority opinion delivered by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court wrote that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) prohibits states from imposing labeling requirements “in addition to or different from” the labels required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scientists say house cats could help unlock new cancer treatments for humans

Another argument for kitties

University of Guelph

Scientists say feline cancer genetics are no longer a mystery after completing one of the largest studies ever conducted on tumors in domestic cats.

The research, published in Science, is the first large-scale effort to genetically profile cancers in cats. Researchers believe the findings could improve understanding of cancer in both animals and humans while also creating a valuable open resource for future feline cancer studies.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of disease and death in cats, yet scientists have historically known very little about the genetic changes driving these illnesses.

"Despite domestic cats being common pets, there was very little known about the genetics of cancer in these animals," said Dr. Geoffrey Wood, a professor of pathobiology at the University of Guelph and co-senior author of the study, "until now."

Cat Tumors Show Strong Genetic Similarities to Human Cancers

Researchers analyzed tumor samples from nearly 500 domestic cats collected across five countries. The team investigated the genetic mutations involved in cancer development and discovered many of the same cancer-driving genes seen in human and dog cancers.

Among the most important findings were mutations linked to aggressive mammary cancers in cats.

The gene most frequently altered in feline mammary tumors was FBXW7, with mutations appearing in more than half of the tumors studied.

In human breast cancer, mutations in FBXW7 are associated with poorer outcomes, closely matching what researchers observed in cats.

Scientists also identified similarities between feline and human cancers affecting the blood, bones, lungs, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and central nervous system.

Because cats often share the same environments as their owners, researchers believe some cancer risks could stem from common environmental exposures.

Why guys need to advocate for HPV vaccination

Men face rising threat of HPV-related cancers

Liz Szabo, MA

“I’ve got what?”

Michael Whelan stared at his doctor for what felt like hours. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Whelan saw the doctor once a month to help manage arthritis pain in his neck and back. Now, his doctor was talking about the results of a recent scan. Whelan, then 66, was expecting to hear about his joints.

Instead, Whelan heard the doctor explain that the scan showed a suspicious mass on the right side of his throat, which might indicate cancer.

Whelan almost fainted.

“The first thing that I did was I touched my throat,” Whelan told CIDRAP News. “And I could feel it.”

Whelan said he had no symptoms of cancer.

No pain, no difficulty breathing or swallowing. Until that day in the doctor’s office four years ago, Whelan said he’d never noticed the hard lump under his skin.

Further testing revealed that the mass was malignant and caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

“Something I’d never heard of almost killed me,” Whelan said.

‘A virus-driven cancer epidemic’

Twenty years after the approval of a safe and highly effective vaccine against HPV, one-third of Americans have never heard of the virus. 

Many are unaware that the virus causes more than 49,000 cancers a year, including tumors of the head and neck, cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, and anus. 

When the vaccine was first approved in 2006, it was promoted as a way to prevent cervical cancer, which was then the most common type of HPV-related tumor. Routine screenings and vaccinations have since reduced the incidence of HPV-related cervical cancers. 

That’s led head and neck tumors—which are mostly found in men—to emerge as the most common HPV-related cancer. While HPV leads to 11,100 cervical cancers each year, the virus causes 16,000 cancers in the head and neck, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

3 Medical Routines That Older People May Not Need

One benefit of aging

By Paula Span

Enough time had passed since the patient’s previous colonoscopy that she met the criteria to undergo another, said Steven Itzkowitz, a gastroenterologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

She was in “reasonably good health,” and the risks of the procedure — bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, perforation of her colon — were fairly low. But she was 85. And she would need to briefly discontinue the blood thinners she took because of the cardiac stents keeping her arteries open; doing so could increase the risks.

Had Itzkowitz and his patient faced this decision five years ago, he might have scheduled the screening “without even thinking about it,” he said. But recent research has shown again that the benefits of a repeat colonoscopy are slim after age 75.

Now, he said, “I’m saying to myself, ‘What are we accomplishing here?’”

He’s not the only doctor — or patient — having second thoughts. The risks and benefits of common screenings, procedures, and drugs add up differently at advanced ages, and research continues to point out fresh examples of some that may become unnecessary.

Recently, investigators have taken on questions about common skin lesions that probably don’t need to be removed, a widely used thyroid medication that many older patients can safely discontinue, and colonoscopies that reduce colon cancer mortality so slightly that the risks may outweigh the benefits.

They’re Called ‘Super Pollutants’—And Trump’s EPA Wants to Expose You to More of Them

Remember the cancer-causing "Ozone Hole?" Trump wants to bring it back. 

Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams

In a reversal of his past position and what critics are calling yet another betrayal of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign pledge, US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration is loosening limits on so-called “super pollutant” hydrofluorocarbons used in air conditioners and refrigerators at the expense of the environment and climate.

Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin spun the move as a measure that will “save American families and businesses more than $2.4 billion” by revising “costly overreaching restrictions” imposed during the Biden administration “limiting the type of refrigerants American businesses and families can use.”

“Today, the Trump EPA is fulfilling President Trump’s promise to lower costs and is fixing every problem we can under the authority Congress gave us,” Zeldin said. “Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars. This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.”

Grocery prices have continued to rise during Trump’s second term, driven by the administration’s erratic trade wars and actual war on Iran. Critics of Thursday’s move argue that it will do little to reduce consumer costs, while increasing pollution and health risks for American families.

Scientists uncover cancer-causing chemicals hidden in everyday foods

Moderate your cooking style

Seoul National University of Science & Technology 

More people are paying close attention to what they eat, often tracking calories, exercising daily, and filling their plates with foods that seem naturally healthy, including fruits and vegetables. 

Yet even nutritious foods can carry hidden chemical concerns. Some contaminants can enter food from the environment, while others can form during high heat cooking methods such as heating, smoking, grilling, roasting, and frying.

Among the compounds of concern are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs (hydrophobic organic compounds comprising multiple fused aromatic rings). 

Some PAHs are known for their cancer causing potential, which makes reliable food testing an important part of protecting public health.

URI scientists working on advanced cancer treatment

Genetically reengineered bacteria targets cancerous tumors

Dawn Bergantino  

Cancerous tumors are masters of disguise that fly under the radar of the human immune system, hiding to evade capture while growing and wreaking havoc on their host’s health. 

However, when oncolytic (cancer-killing) bacteria are injected into a tumor, the immune system is alerted to the invader and destroys it, simultaneously attacking the tumor.

While previous research from Johns Hopkins University is successfully completing clinical trials, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Kaitlin Dailey is expanding on that work to more specifically target tumors that are difficult or impossible to access, especially those associated with pancreatic cancer—one of the deadliest types.