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The mounting global cancer burden has generated an increasing demand for oncologists to join the workforce. Yet, students report limited oncology exposure in undergraduate medical curricula, while undergraduate oncology mentorships remain underutilised. We established an undergraduate oncology society–led mentorship programme aimed at medical students across several UK universities to increase medical student oncology exposure. We electronically recruited and paired oncologist mentors and medical student mentees and distributed a dedicated questionnaire (pre- and post-mentorship) to compare mentees’ self-reported cancer specialty knowledge and oncology career motivation after undertaking a 6-week mentorship. We also determined students’ interest across specialties and subspecialties and measured mentor availability via percentage programme uptake. Statistical analysis included univariate inferential tests on SPSS software. Twentynine (23.4%) of 124 oncology specialists agreed to become mentors. The mentorship was completed by 30 students across three medical schools: 16 (53.3%) Barts, 10 (33.3%) Birmingham, and 4 (13.3%) King’s; 11 (36.7%) mentored by medical oncologists, 10 (33.3%) by clinical/radiation oncologists, and 9 (30%) by surgical oncologists. The mentorship generated a statically significant increase in students’ knowledge of the multidisciplinary team and all oncology-related specialties including academia/research but not interest towards a career in oncology. Undergraduate oncology mentoring is an effective educational, networking and motivational tool for medical students. Student societies are a valuable asset in cultivating medical student oncology interest by connecting students to faculty and increasing mentor accessibility. Further research should focus on developing an optimal mentorship structure and evaluating long-term outcomes of such educational initiatives.

T cells demonstrate impaired function in Multiple Myeloma (MM), but suppressive mechanisms in the bone marrow microenvironment remain poorly defined. We observe that bone marrow CD8+ T-cell function is decreased in MM patients compared to controls, and also is consistently lower within bone marrow samples than matched peripheral blood. These changes are accompanied by decreased mitochondrial mass and markedly elevated long-chain fatty acid uptake. In vitro modelling confirmed that uptake of bone marrow lipids suppresses CD8+ T function, which is impaired in autologous bone marrow plasma, but rescued by lipid removal. Analysis of single-cell RNA-sequencing data identified expression of fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1) in bone marrow CD8+ T cells in MM, and FATP1 blockade also rescued CD8+ T-cell function, thereby identifying this as a novel target to augment T cell activity in MM. Finally, analysis of samples from treated patient cohorts identified that CD8+ T cell metabolic dysfunction resolves in treatment-responsive but not relapsed MM patients and is associated with substantial T cell functional restoration.

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Results The national survey was completed by 166 students representing 22 UK medical schools. Students reported limited interest, knowledge and exposure to oncology, lack of confidence in skills, and teaching dissatisfaction. Oncology was perceived as a challenging specialty (mean Likert score: 4.5/5±0.7), yet most students estimate receiving only 1-2 weeks of dedicated oncology teaching. The national symposium generated a statically significant increase in students' interest (p=0.0012), knowledge, and confidence in skills surrounding oncology (p<0.0001), improving students' perceived ability to cope with the emotional challenges in this field (p=0.0278). Conclusion Students' unimpressive views towards oncology alongside their teaching dissatisfaction underpin the need to reform current undergraduate oncology curricula. Increasing medical student oncology exposure by proposing outcomebased guidelines and adopting a standardised undergraduate oncology curriculum should be the foremost priority in inspiring future oncologists to ensure excellent cancer patient care.