Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, crucial for malignant transformation and metastasis. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and prostate cancer exhibit similar metabolic adaptations, particularly in glucose and lipid metabolism. Understanding this metabolic plasticity is crucial for identifying mechanisms contributing to metastasis. This review considers glucose and lipid metabolism in CLL and prostate cancer, exploring their roles in healthy and malignant states and during disease progression. In CLL, lipid metabolism supports cell survival and migration, with aggressive disease characterised by increased fatty acid oxidation and altered sphingolipids. Richter's transformation and aggressive lymphoma, however, exhibit a metabolic shift towards increased glycolysis. Similarly, prostate cell metabolism is unique, relying on citrate production in the healthy state and undergoing metabolic reprogramming during malignant transformation. Early-stage prostate cancer cells increase lipid synthesis and uptake, and decrease glycolysis, whereas metastatic cells re-adopt glucose metabolism, likely driven by interactions with the tumour microenvironment. Genetic drivers including TP53 and ATM mutations connect metabolic alterations to disease severity in these two malignancies. The bone microenvironment supports the metabolic demands of these malignancies, serving as an initiation niche for CLL and a homing site for prostate cancer metastases. By comparing these malignancies, this review underscores the importance of metabolic plasticity in cancer progression and highlights how CLL and prostate cancer may be models of circulating and solid tumours more broadly. The metabolic phenotypes throughout cancer cell transformation and metastasis, and the microenvironment in which these processes occur, present opportunities for interventions that could disrupt metastatic processes and improve patient outcomes.
Neurobiological research relies heavily on imaging techniques, such as fluorescence microscopy, to understand neurological function and disease processes. However, the number and variety of fluorescent probes available for ex vivo tissue section imaging limits the advance of research in the field. In this review, we outline the current range of fluorescent probes that are available to researchers for ex vivo brain section imaging, including their physical and chemical characteristics, staining targets, and examples of discoveries for which they have been used. This review is organised into sections based on the biological target of the probe, including subcellular organelles, chemical species (e.g., labile metal ions), and pathological phenomenon (e.g., degenerating cells, aggregated proteins). We hope to inspire further development in this field, given the considerable benefits to be gained by the greater availability of suitably sensitive probes that have specificity for important brain tissue targets.
Prostate cancer remains a significant global health concern, with over 1.4 million new cases diagnosed and more than 330,000 deaths each year. The primary clinical challenge that contributes to poor patient outcomes involves the failure to accurately predict and treat at the onset of metastasis, which remains an incurable stage of the disease. This review discusses the emerging paradigm that prostate cancer metastasis is driven by a dysregulation of critical molecular machinery that regulates endosome-lysosome homeostasis. Endosome and lysosome compartments have crucial roles in maintaining normal cellular function but are also involved in many hallmarks of cancer pathogenesis, including inflammation, immune response, nutrient sensing, metabolism, proliferation, signalling, and migration. Here we discuss new insight into how alterations in the complex network of trafficking machinery, responsible for the microtubule-based transport of endosomes and lysosomes, may be involved in prostate cancer progression. A better understanding of endosome-lysosome dynamics may facilitate the discovery of novel strategies to detect and manage prostate cancer metastasis and improve patient outcomes.
Melanoma exhibits inherent heterogeneity and a high metastatic propensity, posing significant challenges for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. There are recognized problems with the visual detection of melanoma, such as amelanocytic lesions, which indicate that melanogenesis is downstream of the critical pathogenesis. The endosome–lysosome system regulates trafficking to control melanogenesis, and endosome function/signaling is directly impacted by common melanoma mutations. The endosomal–lysosomal system is also integrally involved in the regulation of fundamental cellular processes that are associated with other key hallmarks of this cancer. This traditional narrative review explores the relationship between altered endosomal–lysosomal biogenesis, aberrant melanogenesis, and oncogenic function in melanoma, including the potential effects on proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underpinning the altered endosomal–lysosomal biology in melanoma is important as this has the potential to define new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to improve patient management.
25 September 2026 in Anatomical Sciences Education
Social media is increasingly employed for medical education, yet Instagram remains under‐explored for visually rich disciplines, such as pathology. Using an established Instagram profile (@Patholife, >6000 followers), we delivered a structured, interactive educational series covering colorectal cancer, melanoma, and prostate cancer over a 4‐week study period (1 week of promotion, 3 weeks of content delivery) in November–December 2024. Most interactions with this content were passive (likes and saves). Engagement patterns differed by topic and post type, although inferential findings were interpreted cautiously because views were not independent and the number of posts was small. On‐platform quizzes generated greater visible participation than the external Qualtrics quiz, although this comparison was confounded by concurrent post‐boosting. No significant difference was found between Story Poll and Case Study quiz formats ( p = 0.76). Boosting increased visibility descriptively but did not enhance deeper engagement. Framed by Cognitive Load Theory and Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, findings underscore three principles for digital pathology education: (1) embed interactive content directly on‐platform; (2) use visually rich, concise materials aligned with multimedia learning principles; and (3) employ boosting selectively for visibility. Instagram shows promise for interactive, accessible pathology education globally, though direct measurement of learning outcomes remains a critical next step.
1 October 2026 in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical