How does it do it? With an ancient and ingenious theft.

It browses an archive hidden in our own DNA. It reactivates the same genetic programs that allowed us, as embryos, to build the placenta, invade the uterus, create new blood vessels and temporarily switch off the mother’s immune defenses.

What in the embryo is a project for life, in the tumor becomes a project for survival.

From an immunological point of view, the embryo is a semi-transplant. Half of its DNA is paternal, therefore foreign to the mother. Yet it is not rejected. The placenta and trophoblast create a bubble of tolerance around it that reprograms maternal defenses.

Cancer does exactly the same.

Cancer cells learn to express molecules like PD-L1 and HLA-E. They are powerful STOP signals for T lymphocytes and Natural Killer cells. In practice, they tell the immune system: “I am not a danger”. They create a local immune paralysis.

This insight led to the study by Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.

Researchers engineered a new generation of genetically enhanced Natural Killer cells to break this deception.

NK cells are our first line of defense against viruses and tumors, but they are switched off inside the tumor microenvironment. The new multifunctional platform makes them resistant with 3 combined strategies.

We are still in the preclinical phase, further studies are needed before clinical use, but the message is powerful: to defeat cancer, it is not enough to boost our defenses. We must prevent it from reactivating those ancestral programs born to protect new life and that it has turned into a weapon for its own survival.

Source: Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital – Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy

]]> https://headandnecknetwork.com/the-perfect-deception-how-cancer-steals-the-manual-of-life-to-survive-2/feed/ 0 https://headandnecknetwork.com/the-perfect-deception-how-cancer-steals-the-manual-of-life-to-survive/ https://headandnecknetwork.com/the-perfect-deception-how-cancer-steals-the-manual-of-life-to-survive/#respond Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:15:37 +0000 https://headandnecknetwork.com/?p=2201

To grow, a tumor must achieve the impossible: convince our immune system NOT to destroy it.

How does it do it? With an ancient and ingenious theft.

It browses an archive hidden in our own DNA. It reactivates the same genetic programs that allowed us, as embryos, to build the placenta, invade the uterus, create new blood vessels and temporarily switch off the mother’s immune defenses.

What in the embryo is a project for life, in the tumor becomes a project for survival.

From an immunological point of view, the embryo is a semi-transplant. Half of its DNA is paternal, therefore foreign to the mother. Yet it is not rejected. The placenta and trophoblast create a bubble of tolerance around it that reprograms maternal defenses.

Cancer does exactly the same.

Cancer cells learn to express molecules like PD-L1 and HLA-E. They are powerful STOP signals for T lymphocytes and Natural Killer cells. In practice, they tell the immune system: “I am not a danger”. They create a local immune paralysis.

This insight led to the study by Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.

Researchers engineered a new generation of genetically enhanced Natural Killer cells to break this deception.

NK cells are our first line of defense against viruses and tumors, but they are switched off inside the tumor microenvironment. The new multifunctional platform makes them resistant with 3 combined strategies.

We are still in the preclinical phase, further studies are needed before clinical use, but the message is powerful: to defeat cancer, it is not enough to boost our defenses. We must prevent it from reactivating those ancestral programs born to protect new life and that it has turned into a weapon for its own survival.

Source: Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital – Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy

Head and neck cancer is the 6th most common cancer worldwide, with over half a million new cases every year. We know tobacco, alcohol and HPV play a major role, but science is uncovering a new actor: your oral microbiome.

Your mouth is one of the most complex ecosystems in the body, home to 700 to thousands of species of bacteria, fungi and more.

When this ecosystem loses balance, a state called dysbiosis, it can contribute to cancer development.

Research is moving toward personalized medicine. Your microbiome might be part of it.

]]> https://headandnecknetwork.com/is-your-mouth-talking-to-cancer/feed/ 0 https://headandnecknetwork.com/is-your-mouth-talking-to-cancer-the-link-between-oral-microbiota-and-head-neck-cancer/ https://headandnecknetwork.com/is-your-mouth-talking-to-cancer-the-link-between-oral-microbiota-and-head-neck-cancer/#respond Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:32:40 +0000 https://headandnecknetwork.com/?p=2191 Is your mouth talking to cancer? The link between oral microbiota and Head & Neck Cancer

Head and neck cancer is the 6th most common cancer worldwide, with over half a million new cases every year. We know tobacco, alcohol and HPV play a major role, but science is uncovering a new actor: your oral microbiome.

Your mouth is one of the most complex ecosystems in the body, home to 700 to thousands of species of bacteria, fungi and more.

When this ecosystem loses balance, a state called dysbiosis, it can contribute to cancer development.

How?

1. Chronic inflammation & immune escape

Certain bacteria release genotoxins, create oxidative stress and modulate both innate and acquired immunity, favoring a pro-tumor microenvironment.

2. The “bad actors”

Recent reviews consistently find higher abundance of Gram-negative species in patients with HNSCC, including Fusobacterium (especially F. nucleatum), Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella, Parvimonas and Peptostreptococcus.

3. The protectors

Not all bacteria are enemies. Corynebacterium and Kingella appear to have a preventive effect, while Bacillus, Lactobacillus and Sphingomonas are associated with a more favorable prognosis.

Why does this matter?

Ninety percent of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, and tobacco and alcohol can further modify the oral microbiota. Understanding these microbial signatures could lead to non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis stratification, and even new therapeutic targets that improve response to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

This is still an evolving field. Dysbiosis alone does not cause cancer, but it interacts with known risk factors. Good oral hygiene, smoking cessation, limiting alcohol, and HPV vaccination remain key preventive tools.

Research is moving toward personalized medicine. Your microbiome might be part of it.

]]> https://headandnecknetwork.com/is-your-mouth-talking-to-cancer-the-link-between-oral-microbiota-and-head-neck-cancer/feed/ 0 https://headandnecknetwork.com/same-genes-different-habits-different-future/ https://headandnecknetwork.com/same-genes-different-habits-different-future/#respond Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:47:50 +0000 https://headandnecknetwork.com/?p=2188 What you eat and how you move as a kid changes how you grow.

Left: ultra-processed food + screen time + no movement

Right: balanced meals + daily activity + sleep

Same starting point. Not the same outcome 10 years later.

Health is built daily, not overnight.

]]> https://headandnecknetwork.com/same-genes-different-habits-different-future/feed/ 0 https://headandnecknetwork.com/how-can-i-reduce-the-risk-of-developing-head-and-neck-cancers/ https://headandnecknetwork.com/how-can-i-reduce-the-risk-of-developing-head-and-neck-cancers/#respond Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:40:00 +0000 https://headandnecknetwork.com/?p=2185 Listen ⬇️ and share

#risk #headandneckcancer #stopsmoking #stopdrinking #hpvvaccine

Maura Gillison, who identified the role of HPV in head and neck cancer, changing the standard of care, dies at 61

Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and molecular epidemiologist whose work changed the standard of care for head and neck cancer by distinguishing human papillomavirus-positive from HPV-negative disease and thereby guiding diagnosis, treatment and prevention, died on June 21.

As a post-doctoral fellow at the Kimmel Cancer Center and Bloomberg School of Public Health at Hopkins, Gillison demonstrated that a subset of head and neck cancers of the pharynx, tonsils, and base of tongue was driven by HPV.

“Until her discovery, it was understood that head and neck cancer was caused by tobacco and alcohol and case reports of the presence of HPV in some tumors was attributed to laboratory contamination,” William G. Nelson, the Marion I. Knott Professor and Director of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in an announcement of Gillion’s death to the faculty. “She subsequently led a prospective case control study, at the SKCCC, which definitively demonstrated the causal role of HPV in oropharynx cancer published in 2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Maura, rest in peace

A squamous odontogenic tumor (SOT) is a rare, benign, and slow-growing tumor of the jaws that is locally infiltrative. Although generally slow-growing with a good prognosis, SOT is considered locally aggressive and requires complete surgical removal to prevent recurrence. 

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The study found that overall, farmers were less likely to be diagnosed with most cancers. However, farmers had higher-than-expected rates of prostate and lip cancer.

The study suggests that high exposure to some insecticides may increase the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. The higher risk of lip cancer was believed to be mainly due to excess sun exposure and higher rates of chewing tobacco use.

Full article: https://www.kcrg.com/2026/03/13/iowa-cancer-report-finds-farmers-had-fewer-cancers-compared-with-general-population/