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Topic Review
PARP Inhibitors in Cancer Immunotherapy
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi) induce cytotoxic effects as single agents in tumors characterized by defective repair of DNA double-strand breaks deriving from BRCA1/2 mutations or other abnormalities in genes associated with homologous recombination. Preclinical studies have shown that PARPi-induced DNA damage may affect the tumor immune microenvironment and immune-mediated anti-tumor response through several mechanisms. In particular, increased DNA damage has been shown to induce the activation of type I interferon pathway and up-regulation of PD-L1 expression in cancer cells, which can both enhance sensitivity to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs).
  • 1.0K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphomas
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the commonest form of lymphoid malignancy, with a prevalence of about 40% worldwide. The term DLBCL reflects the growth pattern and size of the neoplastic cells, which tend to diffusely efface the normal structure of the involved organ (most frequently the lymph node) and are provided with a diameter at least twice that of normal lymphocytes. Although during the last few years several distinct clinical-pathological categories of DLBCL have been reported in the literature, which are nowadays listed in the Revised 4th Edition of the WHO Classification of the Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues, about 80% of DLBCLs do not enter into any of these categories and are therefore termed not otherwise specified (NOS). DLBCL-NOS displays a quite variable morphology and only rarely consists of only one cytotype (centroblastic, immunoblastic or anaplastic). Thus, microscopic examination fails to define the cell of origin, prognostic indicators and novel potential therapeutic targets. The standard of care  is the immuno-chemotherapy R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), which cures up to 65% of patients. The remaining individuals with DLBCL-NOS experience resistant or relapsing disease and eventually die of it. This situation has promoted a huge number of studies focusing on the pathobiology of the tumour and based on high-throughput techniques, including gene expression profiling and next generation sequencing. In addition, attention has been focused on the mcroenvironmental composition, which can influence the behaviour and response to therapy of the tumour in conjunction with the molecular characteristics of neoplastic cells. The aim of the present review is to discuss the most recent acquisitions in the field of DLBCL-NOS based on the extensive application of molecular techniques, which paves the way to a more rational classification of the tumour along with the identification of effective prognostic indicators and novel therapeutic targets for  ad hoc personalised approaches. 
  • 1.0K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Circadian Clock and Liver Cancer
Circadian clocks control several homeostatic processes in mammals through internal molecular mechanisms. Chronic perturbation of circadian rhythms is associated with metabolic diseases and increased cancer risk, including liver cancer. The hepatic physiology follows a daily rhythm, driven by clock genes that control the expression of several proteins involved in distinct metabolic pathways. Alteration of the liver clock results in metabolic disorders, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) and impaired glucose metabolism, that can trigger the activation of oncogenic pathways, inducing spontaneous hepatocarcinoma (HCC). The study of oncogenic changes related to alterations of liver clock provides new potentially useful targets for prevention and management of HCC.
  • 1.0K
  • 11 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Exosomes Diversity
Cells can communicate through special “messages in the bottle”, which are recorded in the bloodstream inside vesicles, namely exosomes. The exosomes are nanovesicles of 30–100 nm in diameter that carry functionally active biological material, such as proteins, messanger RNA (mRNAs), and micro RNA (miRNAs). Therefore, they are able to transfer specific signals from a parental cell of origin to the surrounding cells in the microenvironment and to distant organs through the circulatory and lymphatic stream. More and more interest is rising for the pathological role of exosomes produced by cancer cells and for their potential use in tumor monitoring and patient follow up. In particular, the exosomes could be an appropriate index of proliferation and cancer cell communication for monitoring the minimal residual disease, which cannot be easily detectable by common diagnostic and monitoring techniques. The lack of unequivocal markers for tumor-derived exosomes calls for new strategies for exosomes profile characterization aimed at the adoption of exosomes as an official tumor biomarker for tumor progression monitoring.
  • 1.0K
  • 21 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Therapy-Related MN and Clonal Hematopoiesis
In the last decades the improved management of cancer patients and the overall prolonged life expectancy contributed to the increased number of patients at risk of late clonal events such as therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MN). The discovery of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) in normal individuals has shed light on the pathophysiologic mechanism behind the process of myeloid evolution, defining CHIP carriers at higher risk of progression. Moreover, different patterns of clonal evolution have been identified in case of t-MN development after anti-cancer treatment exposure. 
  • 1.0K
  • 22 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Anti-Cancer Potential of Cinnamaldehyde
Cinnamaldehyde has anti-cancer effects through a number of different mechanisms that are interconnected with one another. These effects reduce some of the most severe symptoms of abnormally rapid cell growth. Some of the mechanistic approaches include the induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, interruption in angiogenesis, free radical scavenging, inhibition of inflammation, and interference with cellular invasion and metastasis. According to the types, doses and duration of treatment of cancer, the mechanisms involved could change.
  • 1.0K
  • 13 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Immunotherapy of Colorectal Cancer
Immunotherapy has become one of the pillars of treatmemt of Colorectal Cancer. This entry explains what Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors are, how they work and which patients are most likely to benefit from them. You will get an overview of the current (2020) scientific evidence on their efficacy in terms of objective tumor response, progression free survival and overall survival, as well as on safety, adverse effects and potential impact on quality of life indicators. Furthermore, ongoing or planned trials are listed.
  • 1.0K
  • 23 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Subtypes of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a negative expression of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptors (HER2). The survival rate for TNBC is generally worse than other breast cancer subtypes. TNBC treatment has made significant advances, but certain limitations remain. Treatment for TNBC can be challenging since the disease has various molecular subtypes. A variety of treatment options are available, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. Chemotherapy is the most common of these options. TNBC is generally treated with systemic chemotherapy using drugs such as anthracyclines and taxanes in neoadjuvant or adjuvant settings. Developing resistance to anticancer drugs and off-target toxicity are the primary hindrances to chemotherapeutic solutions for cancer.
  • 1.0K
  • 17 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Angiocrine Factors Control Tumor Progression
A solid tumor mass consists not only of cancer cells, but of numerous other resident and infiltrating cells and the extracellular matrix, which together form the tumor microenvironment (TME). The TME contains three main cell entities: fibroblasts, immune cells and endothelial cells. Endothelial cells control their microenvironment through the expression of membrane-bound and secreted factors. Such angiocrine functions are frequently hijacked by cancer cells, which deregulate the signaling pathways controlling the expression of angiocrine factors.
  • 1.0K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Urothelial Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy of the genitourinary tract, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Until recently, the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial BC was based on the use of chemotherapy alone. Since 2016, five immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in different settings, i.e., first-line, maintenance and second-line treatment, while several trials are still ongoing in the perioperative context. Lately, pembrolizumab, a programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor, has been approved for Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), using immunotherapy at an early stage of the disease.
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  • 19 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Nanoparticles in Cancer Theranostics
Cancer theranostics is the combination of diagnosis and therapeutic approaches for cancer, which is essential in personalized cancer treatment. The aims of the theranostics application of nanoparticles in cancer detection and therapy are to reduce delays in treatment and hence improve patient care. Recently, it has been found that the functionalization of nanoparticles can improve the efficiency, performance, specificity and sensitivity of the structure, and increase stability in the body and acidic environment. Moreover, functionalized nanoparticles have been found to possess a remarkable theranostic ability and have revolutionized cancer treatment.
  • 1.0K
  • 24 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Primary cilia and cancer
Primacy cilia are antenna-like structures present in many vertebrate cells. These organelles detect extracellular cues, transduce signals into the cell, and play an essential role in ensuring correct cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation in a spatiotemporal manner. Not surprisingly, dysregulation of primary cilia can cause various diseases, including cancer. The structure and function of primary cilia are dynamically regulated through many proteins and various posttranslational mechanisms of these proteins, including phosphorylation, acetylation, and ubiquitination. Targeting these signaling that regulates the assembly and disassembly of primary cilia may be a promising approach for cancer treatment.
  • 1.0K
  • 27 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Golden Syrian Hamster Models for Cancer Research
The golden Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) has long been a valuable rodent model of human diseases, especially infectious and metabolic diseases. Hamsters have also been valuable models of several chemically induced cancers such as the DMBA-induced oral cheek pouch cancer model.
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  • 19 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Cancer Treatment and Immunotherapy during Pregnancy
According to McCormik and Peterson (2018), the most common cancers of reproductive age in women are melanoma, breast cancer (the most common gestational cancer and reaches 20% of cases), thyroid cancer, cervical cancer, and lymphomas (most commonly Hodgkin’s lymphoma). A pregnancy that coexists with cancer is not an ordinary pregnancy and consists of a complex medical condition. In the majority of these cases, various therapeutic and ethical dilemmas arise.
  • 1.0K
  • 21 Oct 2022
Topic Review
CN133
Pediatric ependymoma (EPN) is a highly aggressive tumor of the central nervous system that remains incurable in 40% of cases. In children, the majority of cases develop in the posterior fossa and can be classified into two distinct molecular entities: EPN posterior fossa A (PF-EPN-A) and EPN posterior fossa B (PF-EPN-B). Patients with PF-EPN-A have poor outcome and are in demand of new therapies. In general, PF-EPN-A tumors show a balanced chromosome copy number profile and have no recurrent somatic nucleotide variants. However, these tumors present abundant epigenetic deregulations, thereby suggesting that epigenetic therapies could provide new opportunities for PF-EPN-A patients. In vitro epigenetic drug screening of 11 compounds showed that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) had the highest anti-proliferative activity in two PF-EPN-A patient-derived cell lines. Further screening of 5 new brain-penetrating HDACi showed that CN133 induced apoptosis in vitro, reduced tumor growth in vivo and significantly extended the survival of mice with orthotopically-implanted EPN tumors by modulation of the unfolded protein response, PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling, and apoptotic pathways among others.
  • 1.0K
  • 09 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Promising Biomarkers of RILI
Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is one of the main dose-limiting side effects in patients with thoracic cancer during radiotherapy. No reliable predictors or accurate risk models are currently available in clinical practice. Severe radiation pneumonitis (RP) or pulmonary fibrosis (PF) will reduce the quality of life, even when the anti-tumor treatment is effective for patients. Since the clinical symptoms or imaging changes identifying toxicity do not appear in the early stage, ideal biomarkers are crucial for early diagnosis and intervention in order to prevent lung complications.
  • 1.0K
  • 26 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Classification of Lymphoblastic Leukemias and Lymphomas
The diagnosis and treatment of lymphoid neoplasms have undergone a progressively positive change in the past, with accelerated progress in the previous decade due to the advent of genomics in cancer diagnosis. Significantly, there has been an increasing emphasis on integrating molecular genetics with clinical, morphologic, immunophenotypic, and cytogenetic evaluation for diagnosis. 
  • 1.0K
  • 29 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Melatonin and Oral Cancer
The wide variety of epigenetic controls available is rapidly expanding the knowledge of molecular biology even overflowing it. At the same time, it can illuminate unsuspected ways of understanding the etiology of cancer. New emerging therapeutic horizons, then, promise to overcome the current antitumor strategies need. The translational utility of this complexity is particularly welcome in oral cancer (OC), in which natural history is alarmingly disappointing due to the invasive and mutilating surgery, the high relapsing rate, the poor quality of life and the reduced survival after diagnosis. Melatonin activates protective receptor-dependent and receptor-independent processes that prevent tissue cancerisation and inhibit progressive tumor malignancy and metastasis. 
  • 1.0K
  • 24 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Abscopal Effect
The abscopal effect (AbE) is defined as radiation-induced shrinkage of distant, non-treated, neoplastic lesions and it is considered the best clinical picture of the efficient immune stimulation by irradiation.
  • 1.0K
  • 17 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Glioblastoma Stem Cells and Tumor Microenvironment
Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) are cells with a self-renewal ability and capacity to initiate tumors upon serial transplantation that have been linked to tumor cell heterogeneity. Most standard treatments fail to completely eradicate GSCs, causing the recurrence of the disease. GSCs could represent one reason for the low efficacy of cancer therapy and for the short relapse time. Nonetheless, experimental data suggest that the presence of therapy‐resistant GSCs could explain tumor recurrence. Therefore, to effectively target GSCs, a comprehensive understanding of their biology and the survival and developing mechanisms during treatment is mandatory. 
  • 1.0K
  • 05 May 2022
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