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Topic Review
Dendrimers Integration in Cancer Imaging and Theranostics
Cancer is a result of abnormal cell proliferation. This pathology is a serious health problem since it is a leading cause of death worldwide. Anti-cancer therapies rely on surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. However, these treatments still present major associated problems, namely the absence of specificity. Nanoparticles, particularly dendrimers, have been paving their way to the front line of cancer treatment, mostly for drug and gene delivery, diagnosis, and disease monitoring. This is mainly derived from their high versatility, which results from their ability to undergo distinct surface functionalization, leading to improved performance. 
  • 957
  • 13 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Anticancer Activity of Pentagalloyl Glucose
Pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) is a natural hydrolyzable gallotannin abundant in various plants and herbs. It has a broad range of biological activities, specifically anticancer activities, and numerous molecular targets. PGG has a cytotoxic effect on many cancers, including prostate, breast, lung, head and neck, liver, leukemia, cervical, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. PGG can affect different cancer stages and inhibit tumor growth through multiple mechanisms depending on cell origin, with minimal toxicity against normal cells. PGG targets several aberrant signal-transduction pathways that control cell growth and division, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and metastasis.
  • 957
  • 07 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Signaling Pathways
Treatment of advanced (metastatic) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is currently mainly based on immunotherapy with antibodies against PD-1 or PD-L1, alone, or in combination with chemotherapy. In locally advanced NSCLC and in early resected stages, immunotherapy is also employed. Tumor PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry is considered the standard practice. Response rate is low, with median progression free survival very short in the vast majority of studies reported. Herein, numerous biological facets of NSCLC are described involving driver genetic lesions, mutations ad fusions, PD-L1 glycosylation, ferroptosis and metabolic rewiring in NSCLC and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Novel concepts, such as immune-transmitters and the effect of neurotransmitters in immune evasion and tumor growth, the nascent relevance of necroptosis and pyroptosis, possible new biomarkers, such as gasdermin D and gasdermin E, the conundrum of K-Ras mutations in LUADs, with the growing recognition of liver kinase B1 (LKB1) and metabolic pathways, including others, are also commented.
  • 956
  • 09 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Ulcerative Colitis
The worldwide epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), still shows an increasing trend in Asia and Iran. Despite an improvement in the treatment landscape focused on symptomatic control, long-term colectomies have not decreased over the last 10-year period. Thus, novel therapies are urgently needed in clinics to supplement the existing treatments. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent adult stem cells with immunosuppressive effects, targeting IBD as a new treatment strategy. They have recently received global attention for their use in cell transplantation due to their easy expansion and wide range of activities to be engrafted, and because they are home to the mucosa of the intestine. Moreover, MSCs are able to differentiate into epithelial and other cells that can directly promote repair in the mucosal damages in UC. It seems that there is a need to deepen our understanding to target MSCs as a promising treatment option for UC patients who are refractory to conventional therapies. Here, we overviewed the therapeutic effects of MSCs in UC and discussed the achievements and challenges in the cell transplantation of UC.
  • 956
  • 14 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Arctigenin Enhances the Cytotoxic Effect
Here, we investigated the effect of arctigenin (ATG) on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cell death using MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. The results showed that DOX-induced cell death was enhanced by ATG/DOX co-treatment in a concentration-dependent manner and that this was associated with increased DOX uptake and the suppression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) gene expression in MDA-MB-231 cells. ATG enhanced DOX-induced DNA damage and decreased the phosphorylation of STAT3 and the expressions of RAD51 and survivin. Cell death caused by ATG/DOX co-treatment was mediated by the nuclear translocation of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), reductions in cellular and mitochondrial Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, and increases in mitochondrial Bax levels. However, caspase-3 and -7 did not participate in DOX/ATG-induced cell death. We also found that DOX/ATG-induced cell death was linked with activation of the p38 signaling pathway and suppressions of the phosphorylations and expressions of Akt and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Taken together, these results show that ATG enhances the cytotoxic activity of DOX in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells by inducing prolonged p21 expression and p38-mediated AIF-dependent cell death. In conclusion, our findings suggest that ATG might alleviate the side effects and improve the therapeutic efficacy of DOX.
  • 954
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
PD-L1 Expression in Anti-PD-(L)1 Immunotherapy
PD-L1 expression on tumor tissues as assessed by immunohistochemistry has been shown to be an imperfect biomarker that only applies to a limited number of cancers, whereas many patients with PD-L1-negative tumors still respond to anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy. Anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) or anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunotherapy (anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy) has achieved unprecedented clinical efficacy for patients with various types and stages of cancers. PD-L1 expression on tumor tissues has clearly shown the predictive value in many types of cancers, as patient responses to anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy are linearly associated with increased levels of PD-L1 expression in many types of cancers. However, positive PD-L1 expression can only partially predict which patients benefit from therapy, as a subset of patients whose tumors lack expression of PD-L1 has also been shown to respond positively to anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy.
  • 954
  • 01 Jun 2022
Topic Review
HDACs in Cellular Stress Response
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are important modulators of the epigenetic constitution of cancer cells. It has become increasingly known that HDACs have the capacity to regulate various cellular systems through the deacetylation of histone and bounteous nonhistone proteins that are rooted in complex pathways in cancer cells to evade death pathways and immune surveillance. The dependency of cancer cells on divergent pathways in response to different environmental stresses has been well established. This is through triggering various molecular mechanisms that promote genomic instability and mutations, reprogram different metabolic systems, and alter gene expression patterns to escape the growth inhibitory signals and the body’s immune system inspection. A better understanding of the underlying molecular pathways involved in the adaption of cancer cells to different stressors might open a new avenue for more efficacious strategies for cancer therapy. 
  • 954
  • 08 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Telomeres in Liver Cancer
Liver cancer is one of the most common cancer types worldwide and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death. Liver carcinoma is distinguished by a high heterogeneity in pathogenesis, histopathology and biological behavior. Dysregulated signaling pathways and various gene mutations are frequent in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), which represent the two most common types of liver tumors. Both tumor types are characterized by telomere shortening and reactivation of telomerase during carcinogenesis. The observation that TERT promoter mutations occur early during liver carcinogenesis highlights the importance of telomerase activity for tumor cell survival. Two possible scenarios are conceivable how telomerase contributes to tumorigenesis in liver cancer: On the one side, telomerase reactivation before entering the crisis checkpoint may stabilize critically short telomeres, providing growth advantage for cells with oncogenic mutations. On the other side, early reactivation of telomerase may be related to its non-canonical functions.  Similarities and differences between HCC and iCCA in telomere biology are depicted in this review article.
  • 953
  • 04 Aug 2020
Topic Review
DNA Methylation in Low-Grade Gliomas
Gliomas, the most common type of malignant primary brain tumor, were conventionally classified through WHO Grades I–IV (now 1–4), with low-grade gliomas being entities belonging to Grades 1 or 2. While the focus of the WHO Classification for Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors had historically been on histopathological attributes, the recently released fifth edition of the classification (WHO CNS5) characterizes brain tumors, including gliomas, using an integration of histological and molecular features, including their epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation which are increasingly being used for the classification of low-grade gliomas. 
  • 953
  • 01 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Drug Resistance against ALK Inhibitors
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for the majority of lung cancer subtypes. Two to seven percent of NSCLC patients harbor gene rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene or, alternatively, harbor chromosomal fusions of ALK with echinoderm microtu-bule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4). The availability of tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting ALK (ALK-TKIs) has significantly improved the progression-free and overall survival of NSCLC pa-tients carrying the respective genetic aberrations.
  • 953
  • 23 Feb 2021
Topic Review
The Impact of Oncofusions in Cancer Research
Oncofusions, or cancer-associated fusion mutations, are driving forces in cancer development. Advanced sequencing technologies have revolutionized their identification, opening new avenues in cancer research. Oncofusions manipulate cellular signaling pathways and show promise as targets for therapy and diagnostic markers. 
  • 951
  • 02 Aug 2023
Topic Review
LRS for Surgical Breast Cancer
Laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS) is a highly specific biomolecular technique which has been shown to have the ability to distinguish malignant and normal breast tissue. This paper discusses significant advancements in the use of LRS in surgical breast cancer diagnosis, with an emphasis on statistical and machine learning strategies employed for precise, transparent and real-time analysis of Raman spectra. When combined with a variety of “machine learning” techniques LRS has been increasingly employed in oncogenic diagnostics. This paper proposes that the majority of these algorithms fail to provide the two most critical pieces of information required by the practicing surgeon: a probability that the classification of a tissue is correct, and, more importantly, the expected error in that probability. Stochastic backpropagation artificial neural networks inherently provide both pieces of information for each and every tissue site examined by LRS. If the networks are trained using both human experts and an unsupervised classification algorithm as gold standards, rapid progress can be made understanding what additional contextual data is needed to improve network classification performance. Our patients expect us to not simply have an opinion about their tumor, but to know how certain we are that we are correct. Stochastic networks can provide that information.
  • 950
  • 25 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Serum Metabolomes of Gastric Cancers
Gastric cancer (GC) is ranked third in cancer deaths world-wide. It is separated anatomically into either gastric adenocarcinomas (non-cardia GC) or gastro-esophageal-junction adenocarcinomas (cardia GC) and is further classified histologically into either diffuse or intestinal types.
  • 950
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Multidrug Resistance Mechanisms and Nano-Treatments
The cellular mechanisms of drug resistance prevent the correct efficacy of the therapies used in various types of cancer and nanotechnology has been postulated as a possible alternative to avoid them. This entry focuses on describing the different mechanisms of drug resistance and dis-covering which nanotechnology-based therapies have been used in recent years to evade them in colon (CRC) and pancreatic cancer (PAC). Here we summarize the use of different types of nanotechnology (mainly nanoparticles) that have shown efficacy in vitro and in vivo in preclinical phases, allowing future in-depth research in CRC and PAC and its translation to future clinical trials.
  • 950
  • 02 May 2021
Topic Review
Extracellular Vesicles in Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is among the most devastating digestive tract cancers worldwide. This cancer is characterized by poor diagnostic detection, lack of therapy, and difficulty in predicting tumorigenesis progression. In recent years, the attention of many researchers has been concentrated on the role of extracellular vesicles and of a particular subset of extracellular vesicles, known as exosomes. These nanovesicles are able to deliver their cargos to recipient cells playing key roles in the pathogenesis and progression of many pancreatic precancerous conditions. 
  • 949
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Cripto in scientific literature
Cripto is a small glycosylphosphatidylinisitol (GPI)-anchored and secreted oncofetal protein that plays important roles in regulating normal physiological processes, including stem cell differentiation, embryonal development, and tissue growth and remodeling, as well as pathological processes such as tumor initiation and progression. Cripto functions as a co-receptor for TGF-β ligands such as Nodal, GDF1, and GDF3. Soluble and secreted forms of Cripto also exhibit growth factor-like activity and activate SRC/MAPK/PI3K/AKT pathways. Glucose-Regulated Protein 78 kDa (GRP78) binds Cripto at the cell surface and has been shown to be required for Cripto signaling via both TGF-β and SRC/MAPK/PI3K/AKT pathways.
  • 948
  • 19 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Alcohol and Cancer
Approximately 4% of cases of cancer worldwide are caused by alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol increases the risk of several cancer types, including cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, liver, colorectum, and breast.
  • 948
  • 25 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive subtype of lung cancer characterized by a rapid initial response and early development of resistance to systemic therapy and radiation. The management of SCLC significantly changed for the first time in decades with the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
  • 947
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
MicroRNAs as Biomarkers for Exercise-Based Cancer Rehabilitation
Expression and functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been widely investigated in cancer treatment-induced complications and as a response to physical activity, respectively, but few studies focus on the application of miRNAs as biomarkers in exercise-based cancer rehabilitation. Research has shown that certain miRNA expression is altered substantially due to tissue damage caused by cancer treatment and chronic inflammation. MiRNAs are released from the damaged tissue and can be easily detected in blood plasma. Levels of the miRNA present in peripheral circulation can therefore be used to measure the extent of tissue damage. Moreover, damage to tissues such as cardiac and skeletal muscle significantly affects the individual’s health-related fitness, which can be determined using physiologic functional assessments. These physiologic parameters are a measure of tissue health and function and can therefore be correlated with the levels of circulating miRNAs.
  • 947
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Tissue- and Blood-Based mRNA Tests in Breast Cancer
Molecular diagnostic tests help clinicians understand the underlying biological mechanisms of their patients’ breast cancer (BC) and facilitate clinical management. Several tissue-based mRNA tests are used routinely in clinical practice, particularly for assessing the BC recurrence risk, which can guide treatment decisions. Blood-based mRNA assays have only recently started to emerge.
  • 947
  • 15 Feb 2023
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