Generalised eruptive histiocytosis mimicking lymphoma relapse in a patient with previous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

August 27, 2026| Source: Lancet (London, England)

A 92-year-old man with a history of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with chemoradiotherapy, and later with radiotherapy for an isolated cutaneous relapse with complete response, presented with a 1-month history of multiple asymptomatic erythematous-to-violaceous papules and nodules on the face, trunk, and upper limbs. Given his oncological history and previous skin involvement, lymphoma relapse was the leading diagnostic concern, with cutaneous metastases and sarcoidosis also considered. However, skin biopsies showed a non-Langerhans cell histiocytic infiltrate expressing CD45, CD68, and CD163, without CD1a, CD20, PAX5, S100, or Langerin expression. Skin and blood flow cytometry identified no abnormal cell populations, and a PET-CT scan showed no abnormal metabolic activity. Clinicopathological correlation narrowed the differential to group C (cutaneous) histiocytosis, and subsequent spontaneous regression of the lesions over 3 months without treatment supported the diagnosis of generalised eruptive histiocytosis. At 15 months of follow-up, there was no recurrence or evidence of active disease. This case illustrates that cutaneous histiocytoses can mimic several inflammatory and neoplastic conditions, including lymphoma relapse, reinforcing the need to actively resist cognitive bias in people who have had cancer through reflective reassessment, broad differential diagnosis, and biopsy confirmation.

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The honey bee stinger: An unusual pump with collapsible double pistons.

Most stinging animals deliver venom by contracting muscles around a venom reservoir, but honey bees employ a fundamentally different strategy. The stingers of worker bees have the unique ability to autotomize, separating from the body, to continue to sting independently. Despite more than a century of anatomical descriptions, the mechanics of venom pumping have remained unresolved due to the challenges of observing them in action. We recorded high-speed videos of active, autotomized stingers, co

Health & MedicineOctober 20, 2026

Chronic cigarette smoke exposure induces distinct stem cell states driving genetic driver-specific non-small cell lung cancer subtypes.

Cigarette smoke-induced chronic inflammation (CI) potentiates development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by mediating genetic and epigenetic events. Using normal lung organoids (LOs), we define how chronic cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) exposure drives two separate stem cell populations to evolve premalignant states harboring progressive epigenetic and linked transcriptomic abnormalities in the absence of major driver mutations. These dynamics facilitate evolution of an immune evasive s

Health & MedicineOctober 20, 2026

Cell identity competes with surface tension to determine stromal organization in tumor spheroids beyond the CAF shell paradigm.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are often found forming a peripheral stromal barrier around tumors. Here, this paradigm is challenged using microfabricated 3D cancer-CAF spheroid models combined with quantitative magnetic force tensiometry. A surface tension atlas is established for eight cancer cell lines, three CAF populations, and heterotypic tumor-CAF assemblies, spanning nearly two orders of magnitude. Surface tension is first shown to govern spheroid morphology and modulate drug respo

Health & MedicineOctober 15, 2026

A phenome-wide structural variant map from 467,152 UK Biobank genomes.

Structural variants (SVs) are large (>50 base pairs) genomic rearrangements that can significantly influence human phenotypes, yet their contribution to health and disease remains undercharacterized. We conducted a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of 1.6 million SVs identified in whole-genome sequencing data from 467,152 UK Biobank participants, across 13,322 binary, 2,018 quantitative, and 2,923 plasma protein traits. Of these, 82.25% of SVs were outside the detectable range of prior

Health & MedicineOctober 15, 2026

Mitochondria-targeted tetraoxanes initiate lipid peroxidation to drive ferroptosis and tumor suppression.

Ferroptosis is implicated as a vulnerability in multiple cancers, yet approaches for effectively inducing ferroptosis in vivo are limited. Bypassing conventional strategies targeting the antiferroptotic glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1) proteins, we designed metabolic initiators of lipid peroxidation (MILPOs) and developed the compounds WMK-1/2, which contain tetraoxane radical-generating and mitochondria-targeting groups, as de novo ferroptosis inducers