Would you take a test to find out your cancer risk? At-home genetic testing makes it easy, but experts warn that these tests may create more harm than good.

A New Approach to Genetic Testing

Genetic testing has traditionally been performed under the supervision of healthcare providers, with genetic counseling to help patients navigate their results. This approach ensures that individuals receive proper guidance, reducing the emotional and practical challenges of interpreting complex genetic information.

In September 2023, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new test called the Invitae Common Hereditary Cancers Panel. This test checks for changes in 48 genes linked to hereditary cancers, including breast, ovarian, and Lynch syndrome-related cancers. What makes it different is that it can be ordered online and taken at home with no doctor required.

While the convenience of these tests is appealing, health experts have raised serious concerns. An editorial titled “Pitfalls and Perils from FDA-Approved Germ-line Cancer Predisposition Tests,” authored by Dr. Wafik S. El-Deiry, Editor-in-Chief of Oncotarget, and Dr. Eli Y. Adashi, both from Brown University, highlights the potential risks of using these tests without professional guidance.

Full blog - https://www.oncotarget.org/2025/01/03/the-hidden-risks-of-at-home-genetic-cancer-tests/

Paper DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28677

Correspondence to - Wafik S. El-Deiry - wafik@brown.edu

Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjKpiBNDWHo

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Keywords - cancer, cancer predisposition, germline, marketing authorization, hereditary cancer, direct to consumer

About Oncotarget 

Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science.

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Oncotarget

The Hidden Risks of At-Home Genetic Cancer Tests

BUFFALO, NY – February 14, 2025 – A new #review was #published in Oncotarget, Volume 16, on February 12, 2025, titled “SETDB1 amplification in osteosarcomas: Insights from its role in healthy tissues and other cancer types.”

Authors Elodie Verdier, Nathalie Gaspar, Maria Eugenia Marques Da Costa, and Antonin Marchais from the Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus analyzed recent studies on a gene called SETDB1, which may play a key role in osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that mostly affects teenagers and young adults. Their review highlights how SETDB1 helps cancer cells grow, resist treatment, and avoid the immune system. Because of this, blocking SETDB1 could be a promising new way to treat osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is a fast-growing bone cancer that is usually treated with surgery and chemotherapy. However, if the cancer spreads or returns, treatment options are very limited. Scientists are searching for new ways to stop this disease, and recent studies have found that osteosarcoma cells often have extra copies of the SETDB1 gene. This seems to make the cancer more aggressive and harder to treat.

“Whole exome sequencing of osteosarcoma samples from both diagnosis and relapses has highlighted several factors, including SETDB1, that are amplified in the most aggressive forms of the disease.”

SETDB1 is involved in epigenetics, meaning it affects how genes are turned on and off without changing the DNA itself. The review explains that SETDB1 helps tumors hide from the immune system, making it difficult for the body to fight the cancer naturally. The researchers believe that blocking SETDB1 could help the immune system recognize and attack osteosarcoma cells. Some experimental drugs that target SETDB1 are already being tested in the lab.

The review also describes how SETDB1 influences key cancer pathways, such as Wnt signaling, which helps cancer cells grow, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process that allows cancer to spread. The authors suggest that combining SETDB1-blocking drugs with immunotherapy or radiation could be an effective new strategy for treating osteosarcoma.

Another key finding is that SETDB1 may help cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy, making treatment less effective. This means that drugs targeting SETDB1 could not only slow cancer growth but also make existing treatments work better.

While more research is needed, this review brings attention to SETDB1 as a potential treatment target. Scientists hope that a deeper understanding of SETDB1 will lead to new therapies that improve survival rates for osteosarcoma patients.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28688

Correspondence to - Antonin Marchais - antonin.marchais@gustaveroussy.fr, and Maria Eugenia Marques Da Costa - jenny.marquescosta@gustaveroussy.fr

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SETDB1 Amplification Identified as a Potential Target for New Osteosarcoma Treatment

BUFFALO, NY – July 14, 2025 – A new #research paper was #published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget on June 25, 2025, titled “Hypoxia induced lipid droplet accumulation promotes resistance to ferroptosis in prostate cancer.”

In this study, researchers led by Shailender S. Chauhan and Noel A. Warfel from the University of Arizona discovered that prostate cancer cells survive treatment by storing fats in tiny cellular compartments when oxygen levels are low. This process makes the cancer cells less vulnerable to a type of cell death known as ferroptosis. The findings provide new insight into why prostate tumors often resist therapies and suggest potential strategies to improve treatment outcomes.

This study focused on ferroptosis, a form of programmed cell death that relies on iron and lipid oxidation to destroy cancer cells. Researchers tested prostate cancer cells under normal and low oxygen conditions and found that hypoxia, or reduced oxygen levels, allowed cancer cells to build up lipid droplets (LD). These structures act as storage units for fats, shielding cancer cells from oxidative damage and preventing ferroptosis from occurring.

The researchers found that this adaptation of prostate cancer cells made them less sensitive to ferroptosis-inducing drugs like Erastin and RSL3, even when these drugs were combined for a stronger effect. The team also reported that hypoxia caused significant changes in lipid metabolism, decreasing the availability of specific fatty acids that normally promote ferroptosis. 

“Transcriptomic analysis revealed that hypoxia significantly reduced the expression of genes related to incorporating polyunsaturated fatty acids into phospholipids (ACSL4, LPCAT3), and parallel lipidomic analysis demonstrated that hypoxia significantly decreased the levels of the ferroptosis-prone lipid class, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and increased production of neutral lipid species, cholesteryl ester (ChE (22:5)) and triglycerides (TG(48:1), TG:(50:4), and TG(58:4)).”

This research highlights the importance of the tumor microenvironment, particularly oxygen levels, in shaping how cancer cells respond to therapy. By altering their metabolism and storing lipids, prostate tumors may evade treatments designed to trigger ferroptosis. These findings underscore the need to develop new strategies targeting LD dynamics or lipid metabolism to overcome this resistance.

Understanding how prostate cancer (Pca) adapts to survive in hypoxic conditions offers a potential avenue for improving therapies. For example, preventing lipid accumulation in cancer cells or releasing stored fats may restore their sensitivity to ferroptosis and improve the effectiveness of current therapies. This approach could have broader implications for treating other solid tumors that share similar metabolic features.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28750

Correspondence to - Noel A. Warfel - warfelna@arizona.edu, and Shailender S. Chauhan - shailenderc@arizona.edu

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Keywords - cancer, hypoxia, lipid droplets, ferroptosis, resistance, prostate

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Prostate Cancer Cells Survive Treatment by Storing Fat in Low Oxygen Conditions

BUFFALO, NY — July 15, 2025 — A new #research paper was #published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 17, Issue 6, on June 5, 2025, titled “Senescence caused by telomerase inactivation in myeloid, mesenchymal, and endothelial cells has distinct effects on cancer progression.”

In this study, first author Joseph Rupert, along with corresponding author Mikhail G. Kolonin and colleagues from The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, McGovern Medical School, at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, investigated how aging-related changes in different cell types affect cancer progression. By turning off telomerase in specific cell populations in mice, the researchers discovered that cell aging, or senescence, can slow primary tumor growth but also trigger unexpected effects. This work sheds light on the complex relationship between aging cells and cancer and may help guide future anti-cancer strategies.

The team used genetically modified mice to deactivate telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosome ends, specifically in immune, connective tissue, and blood vessel cells. This caused these cells to enter a state of senescence, where they stop dividing and release inflammatory signals. The researchers then implanted breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer cells into the mice and tracked how tumors developed. They found that when telomerase was inactivated in immune cells or connective tissue cells, tumors grew more slowly. However, these tumors showed signs of increased tissue damage and potential aggressiveness.

Interestingly, when telomerase was turned off in endothelial cells, which cover blood vessels, tumors shrank and became poorly supplied with blood, leading to oxygen deprivation. In the case of pancreatic cancer cells, this low-oxygen environment made them more likely to spread to the liver, highlighting a potential risk of targeting these cells.

“[…] this study shows that senescence and metabolic dysfunction resulting from telomerase inactivation in distinct cells in the tumor microenvironment have different effects on tumor growth and metastasizing of carcinomas.”

This research provides important insights into how aging cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence cancer behavior. While senescence in certain cell types can help suppress tumor growth, it may also create conditions that favor cancer metastasis. These findings highlight the need to consider cell type-specific effects when developing therapies that target senescent cells. By mapping how different cell populations contribute to cancer progression in aging tissues, this study opens the door for more precise approaches to prevent both tumor growth and spread.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206268

Corresponding author - Mikhail G. Kolonin - mikhail.g.kolonin@uth.tmc.edu

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Keywords - aging, senescence, telomerase, myeloid, mesenchymal, endothelial

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Aging (Aging-US)

How Telomerase Inactivation in Aging Cells Influences Cancer Growth and Metastasis

BUFFALO, NY – July 24, 2025 – A new #casereport was #published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget on July 23, 2025, titled “Extracorporeal blood filtration leading to tumor growth arrest and reduced analgesic requirements in Stage IV poorly differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma: A case report.”

In this report, Susanna Ulahannan from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and colleagues describe the use of extracorporeal blood filtration in a patient with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The patient experienced clinical improvement, reduced pain, and no signs of new tumor growth over 12 months of follow-up.

Metastatic pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat and is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. In this case, a 51-year-old woman with stage IV poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma chose not to undergo standard chemotherapy. Instead, she received extracorporeal blood filtration with the Seraph® 100 device, which is designed to remove circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the bloodstream. CTCs are thought to contribute to the spread of cancer to other organs.

“Circulating tumor cells (CTC’s) are tumor cells that are shed from the primary tumor and travel via blood or lymphatic system to form micro metastases in distant organs under a suitable environment.“

The patient received between nine and twelve treatments over the course of a year. These treatments were performed both abroad, where the device is approved for this use, and under a clinical protocol in the United States. Medical imaging showed that her disease remained stable, with no new metastases detected. She also reported improvements in appetite, energy levels, and pain control. Her opioid use was reduced by 90%.

Blood samples confirmed a drop in CTC levels after treatment. This observation supports the idea that removing CTCs might help limit cancer progression in some patients. However, given that this is a single case report, larger clinical studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.

The mechanism behind the patient’s pain relief is not fully understood. Authors suggest that it may be related to the reduction of tumor cells or inflammatory molecules in the blood. Researchers noted that pro-inflammatory cytokines, known to influence pain, could also have been affected by the filtration process.

This is the first documented case of stable disease and reduced symptoms following CTC filtration in advanced pancreatic cancer. While these findings should not be generalized, they highlight an approach outside standard protocols that should be further explored in clinical research. Future studies will be needed to determine whether this method can contribute to symptom management or disease control in other patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28756

Correspondence to - Susanna Ulahannan - susanna-ulahannan@ouhsc.edu

Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dro6iUGDrVQ

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Keywords - cancer, extracorporeal blood filtration, circulating tumor cells, metastatic pancreatic cancer, seraph 100, OncoBind

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Blood Filtration Stabilizes Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Case Report

BUFFALO, NY — July 28, 2025 — A new #research paper was #published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 17, Issue 6, on June 13, 2025, titled “Development of a novel transcriptomic measure of aging: Transcriptomic Mortality-risk Age (TraMA).”

In this study, led by Eric T. Klopack from the University of Southern California, researchers created a new RNA-based aging measure that predicts health risks and mortality. This measure, called Transcriptomic Mortality-risk Age (TraMA), uses gene expression data to estimate a person’s biological aging. This finding offers a new and potentially more accurate way to track aging and understand health risks, especially for older adults.

Aging is a complex biological process that affects multiple systems in the body and increases the risk of disease and death. Scientists have long looked for reliable ways to measure biological aging. While DNA methylation and blood biomarkers are commonly used, this study focused on RNA—a molecule that reflects gene activity. By analyzing RNA sequencing data from nearly 4,000 U.S. adults aged 50 and older, the team developed TraMA to predict the probability of dying within four years.

TraMA proved to be a strong and independent predictor of early death, multiple chronic diseases, poor cognitive function, and difficulties with daily activities. It was also tested in another large group of long-lived families and in several smaller datasets from patients with conditions like diabetes, sepsis, and cancer. The results confirmed the tool’s usefulness across different populations and health conditions.

“TraMA was also externally validated in the Long Life Family Study and several publicly available datasets.”

Unlike earlier RNA-based aging measures, which were often built using small or non-representative samples, TraMA was developed using modern RNA sequencing technology results and a nationally representative dataset. This increases its reliability and potential for broad public health applications. The tool also demonstrated unique advantages over popular biological aging measures like GrimAge and PhenoAge, capturing distinct aspects of aging and health decline.

Importantly, TraMA tracks biological processes related to inflammation, immune function, and kidney and brain health, systems that play key roles in aging. It was also sensitive to behavioral and socioeconomic factors. For instance, smoking, obesity, and low physical activity were associated with older TraMA scores.

TraMA was also sensitive to changes in biological aging. In one study, researchers measured TraMA at two different time points and found that the more recent scores were better at predicting who would die. This suggests that TraMA can track changes in a person’s aging as their health evolves. It also performed well in both large-scale surveys and small clinical samples, making it a useful tool in many types of research.

By offering a new, accurate, and flexible method for measuring biological aging, TraMA may help researchers better understand how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence aging. This tool opens the door to more precise research on improving health and extending lifespan.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206272

Corresponding author - Eric T. Klopack - klopack@usc.edu

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TraMA: New RNA-Based Measure Predicts Mortality Risk and Tracks Aging

Lung cancer, particularly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is the deadliest cancer worldwide. Cigarette smoking is one of the main causes, but not every smoker develops the disease. This suggests that other biological factors help determine who develops cancer.

Researchers from the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Occupational Medicine, Indianapolis, and from the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center have now found that cigarette smoke, combined with a weakened DNA repair system, can trigger the early stages of lung cancer, particularly NSCLC. This work, led by first author Nawar Al Nasralla and corresponding author Catherine R. Sears, was recently published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget.

Full blog - https://www.oncotarget.org/2025/08/11/cigarette-smoke-and-weak-dna-repair-a-double-hit-behind-lung-cancer-risk/

Paper DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28724

Correspondence to - Catherine R. Sears - crufatto@iu.edu

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Keywords - cancer, DNA repair, DNA damage, lung adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group C (XPC)

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Cigarette Smoke and Weak DNA Repair: A Double Hit Behind Lung Cancer Risk

BUFFALO, NY — August 12, 2025 — A new #research perspective was #published in Aging (Aging-US) on July 8, 2025, titled “Exercise as a geroprotector: focusing on epigenetic aging.”

In this perspective, led by Takuji Kawamura from Tohoku University, researchers reviewed existing evidence from scientific studies showing that regular exercise, physical activity, and fitness may influence epigenetic aging and potentially reverse it, offering a promising way to extend healthspan and improve long-term health.

Epigenetic aging refers to changes in the body’s DNA that reflect how quickly a person is aging at the molecular level. It is measured using epigenetic clocks, which analyze patterns of DNA methylation, a chemical modification that can affect gene activity. Unlike chronological age, which simply counts the number of years lived, epigenetic aging presents a more accurate picture of how well the body’s cells and tissues are functioning. This process is influenced by various factors, including lifestyle, and has become a powerful tool for studying aging.

This perspective highlights that while general physical activity, such as walking or doing household tasks, offers health benefits, structured exercise routines that are planned, repetitive, and goal-directed appear to have stronger effects on slowing epigenetic aging. Physical fitness, especially high cardiorespiratory capacity, is also closely associated with slower epigenetic aging.

The authors also discuss key findings from both human and animal studies. In mice, structured endurance and resistance training reduced age-related molecular changes in muscle tissue. In humans, multi-week exercise interventions demonstrated reductions in biological age markers in blood and skeletal muscle. One study found that sedentary middle-aged women reduced their epigenetic age by two years after just eight weeks of combined aerobic and strength training. Another study showed that older men with higher oxygen uptake levels, a key measure of cardiovascular fitness, had significantly slower epigenetic aging.

“These findings suggest that maintaining physical fitness delays epigenetic aging in multiple organs and supports the notion that exercise as a geroprotector confers benefits to various organs.”

The research also examines which organs benefit most from exercise. While skeletal muscle has been a central focus, new evidence shows that regular physical training may also slow aging in the heart, liver, fat tissue, and even the gut. In addition, Olympic athletes were found to have slower epigenetic aging than non-athletes, suggesting that long-term, intensive physical activity may have lasting anti-aging effects.

The authors call for further research to understand why some individuals respond more strongly to exercise than others and how different types of training influence aging in various organs. They also point out the importance of developing personalized exercise programs to maximize anti-aging benefits. Overall, the findings support the growing recognition that maintaining physical fitness is not only essential for daily health but may also serve as one of the most effective tools for slowing the body’s internal aging process.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206278

Corresponding author - Takuji Kawamura - takuji.kawamura.b8@tohoku.ac.jp

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Exercise May Slow Epigenetic Aging

BUFFALO, NY – August 15, 2025 – A new #research paper was #published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget on August 13, 2025, titled “Clinical and analytical validation of MI Cancer Seek®, a companion diagnostic whole exome and whole transcriptome sequencing-based comprehensive molecular profiling assay.”

In this study, first authors Valeriy Domenyuk and Kasey Benson, along with corresponding author David Spetzler from Caris Life Sciences in Irving, Texas, introduce MI Cancer Seek, an FDA-approved test designed to deliver comprehensive tumor profiling. MI Cancer Seek demonstrated strong concordance with other FDA-approved companion diagnostics and serves as a powerful tool to guide treatment decisions in both adult and pediatric cancer patients.

Cancer remains one of the most complex and diverse diseases to treat. With many targeted therapies currently FDA-approved, selecting the right one for a specific patient requires detailed genetic insights. MI Cancer Seek addresses this need by analyzing both DNA and RNA from a single tumor sample. The tool identifies key biomarkers linked to FDA-approved treatments for several major cancers, including breast, lung, colon, melanoma, and endometrial cancers.

One of the most significant strengths of MI Cancer Seek is its ability to deliver accurate and reliable results from minimal tissue input (50 ng). Even when analyzing formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples, which are widely used but often degraded, the test maintained high levels of accuracy. It successfully detected important genetic alterations such as PIK3CA, EGFR, BRAF, and KRAS/NRAS mutations and measured tumor mutational burden (TMB) and microsatellite instability (MSI), both of which are key indicators for immunotherapy response.

In clinical comparisons, the test achieved over 97% agreement with other FDA-approved diagnostic tools, confirming its reliability in detecting critical biomarkers. Notably, it showed near-perfect accuracy in identifying MSI status in colorectal and endometrial cancers. The researchers also demonstrated that the test maintains precision across different lab conditions and varying DNA input levels, confirming its robustness for routine clinical use.

Beyond its role as a companion diagnostic, MI Cancer Seek incorporates additional features developed under its predecessor, MI Tumor Seek Hybrid. These include detection of homologous recombination deficiency, structural variants, and cancer-related viruses. It also includes advanced tools such as the Genomic Probability Score for identifying the tissue of origin in cancers of unknown primary, as well as a gene signature to guide first-line chemotherapy in colorectal cancer.

“One limitation to be considered is the low PPA for ERBB2 CNA detection.”

By offering deeper genetic insights from a single, small sample, MI Cancer Seek has the potential to streamline diagnostics, reduce testing costs, and connect patients to effective therapies more quickly. As precision medicine continues to expand, this assay stands out as a comprehensive and efficient solution for meeting the evolving needs of modern oncology.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28761

Correspondence to - David Spetzler - dspetzler@carisls.com

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FDA-Approved MI Cancer Seek Test Enhances Tumor Profiling for Precision Oncology

BUFFALO, NY — August 26, 2025 — A new #research paper was #published in Volume 17, Issue 7 of Aging (Aging-US) on July 21, 2025, titled “Association of DNA methylation age acceleration with digital clock drawing test performance: the Framingham Heart Study.”

In this study, led by first author Zexu Li from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, and corresponding author Chunyu Liu from Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston University School of Public Health, researchers found that individuals with signs of faster biological aging had lower scores on a digital cognitive test taken seven years later. The findings suggest that the rate at which a person ages at the molecular level may be associated with how well their brain functions as they grow older.

Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, the researchers examined the relationship between biological aging and cognitive health. They used DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns—chemical changes that occur in the DNA with aging, known as epigenetic aging—to estimate biological age acceleration, and used the digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) to assess cognitive performance. The dCDT is a computerized version of a traditional pen-and-paper test that evaluates memory, thinking speed, and motor control. It provides an overall score and measures performance in specific areas such as spatial reasoning and movement.

Among 1,789 participants, higher levels of epigenetic age acceleration were associated with significantly lower cognitive scores, particularly those over age 65. Of all the epigenetic aging markers examined, the DunedinPACE measure showed the strongest association with reduced brain function in both younger and older adults. Other measures, such as Horvath and PhenoAge, were associated with lower scores only in older adults. Key areas affected included motor skills and spatial reasoning.

The researchers also studied blood-based protein markers used in an aging measure called GrimAge. Two proteins, PAI1 and ADM, were closely associated with lower cognitive scores, especially in older individuals. These results suggest that declines in brain and motor functions may reflect broader aging-related changes throughout the body.

“Digital cognitive measures displayed stronger associations with most DNAm aging metrics among older compared to younger participants, likely to reflect the cumulative and nonlinear age influences on both brain health and DNAm.”

This study supports the idea that epigenetic age may be a more accurate predictor of cognitive decline than chronological age. The dCDT, which is easy to use, automated, and more precise than traditional tools, may help detect early signs of brain aging. When combined with DNAm measures, it could become a valuable part of regular health screenings.

Overall, the findings provide strong evidence that faster biological aging is associated with cognitive decline. This research may lead to better ways of identifying and monitoring brain health in aging populations.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206285

Corresponding author - Chunyu Liu - liuc@bu.edu

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Faster Biological Aging Linked to Cognitive Decline in Older Adults

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Aging-US is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive aging and the development of age-related diseases. Our mission is to serve as a platform for high-quality research that uncovers the cellular, molecular, and systemic processes underlying aging, and translates these insights into strategies to extend healthspan and delay the onset of chronic disease.

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