Date Time Tumor microenvironment helps aggressive lymphomas The environment surrounding the cancerous cells of a lymphoma tumor has a strong influence on the progression of these blood-cell cancers and their responses to therapies, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. Measuring this molecular and cellular environment, or “microenvironment,” appears to represent a new type of precision-medicine approach to lymphoma classification and treatment. CoRus13/Creative Commons Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The team analyzed the patterns of gene activity in tumor samples taken from the lymph nodes of thousands of lymphoma patients. They found that the cells within these tumors, which include both cancer cells and healthy cells, produce molecules that collectively constitute a distinct microenvironment for the tumors, influencing their biology and growth.