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Topic Review
Clinical Pediatric Brain Tumors
Brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children and are associated with high mortality. The most common childhood brain tumors are grouped as low-grade gliomas (LGG), high grade gliomas (HGG), ependymomas, and embryonal tumors, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • 784
  • 21 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Gut-Microbiota-Mediated Immune Regulatory Mechanisms by Immunotherapy
Cancer contains tumor-initiating stem-like cells (TICs) that are resistant to therapies. Experimental evidence indicates that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and TIC development are influenced by permissive conditions in response to changes in gut microbiota.
  • 784
  • 25 May 2022
Topic Review
Conventional Therapies in Colorectal Cancer
Biological heterogeneity and low inherent immunogenicity are two features that greatly impact therapeutic management and outcome in colorectal cancer. Despite high local control rates, systemic tumor dissemination remains the main cause of treatment failure and stresses the need for new developments in combined-modality approaches. In this context, cytotoxic agents such as radiation and certain chemotherapeutics can be utilized to enhance the immunogenicity of an otherwise immunologically silent disease and enable responsiveness to immune therapy. Here, we explore the immunological characteristics of colorectal cancer, the effects that standard-of-care treatments have on the immune system, and the opportunities arising from combining immune checkpoint-blocking therapy with immune-modulating conventional treatments.
  • 783
  • 25 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Metastatic Cancer Therapeutic Pan-resistance
Metastatic spread represents the leading cause of disease-related mortality among cancer patients. Many cancer patients suffer from metastatic relapse years or even decades after radical surgery for the primary tumor. This clinical phenomenon is explained by the early dissemination of cancer cells followed by a long period of dormancy. Although dormancy could be viewed as a window of opportunity for therapeutic interventions, dormant disseminated cancer cells and micrometastases, as well as emergent outgrowing macrometastases, exhibit a generalized, innate resistance to chemotherapy and even immunotherapy. This therapeutic pan-resistance, on top of other adaptive responses to targeted agents such as acquired mutations and lineage plasticity, underpins the current difficulties in eradicating cancer. In the present review, we attempt to provide a framework to understand the underlying biology of this major issue.
  • 783
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Vitamin A and Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer (BC) is the tenth most common cancer worldwide with a high recurrence rate, morbidity and mortality. Therefore, chemoprevention and improved treatment of BC are of paramount importance. Epidemiological studies suggest that adequate vitamin A intake may be associated with reduced BC risk. In addition, retinoids, natural and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A, are intensively studied in cancer research due to their antioxidant properties and their ability to regulate cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Findings from in vivo and in vitro models of BC show great potential for the use of retinoids in the chemoprevention and treatment of BC. However, translation to the clinical practice is limited.
  • 783
  • 25 Apr 2021
Topic Review
The Microrna-143/145 Cluster in Tumors
The establishment and spreading of cancer involve the acquirement of many biological functions including resistance to apoptosis, enhanced proliferation and the ability to invade the surrounding tissue, extravasate from the primary site, survive in circulating blood, and finally extravasate and colonize distant organs giving origin to metastatic lesions, the major cause of cancer deaths. Dramatic changes in the expression of protein coding genes due to altered transcription factors activity or to epigenetic modifications orchestrate these events, intertwining with a microRNA regulatory network that is often disrupted in cancer cells. microRNAs-143 and -145 represent puzzling players of this game, with apparently contradictory functions. They were at first classified as tumor suppressive due to their frequently reduced levels in tumors, correlating with cell survival, proliferation, and migration. More recently, pro-oncogenic roles of these microRNAs have been described, challenging their simplistic definition as merely tumor-suppressive. Here we review their known activities in tumors, whether oncogenic or onco-suppressive, and highlight how their expression and functions are strongly dependent on their complex regulation downstream and upstream of cytokines and growth factors, on the cell type of expression and on the specific tumor stage. 
  • 783
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The pathogenesis of CRC is a complex multistep process. Among other factors, inflammation and oxidative stress (OS) have been reported to be involved in the initiation and development of CRC. Although OS plays a vital part in the life of all organisms, its long-term effects on the human body may be involved in the development of different chronic diseases, including cancer diseases. Chronic OS can lead to the oxidation of biomolecules (nucleic acids, lipids and proteins) or the activation of inflammatory signaling pathways, resulting in the activation of several transcription factors or the dysregulation of gene and protein expression followed by tumor initiation or cancer cell survival. In addition, it is well known that chronic intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are associated with an increased risk of cancer, and a link between OS and IBD initiation and progression has been reported. 
  • 783
  • 05 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Colorectal Carcinomas
Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer, behind only breast and lung cancer. In terms of overall mortality, it ranks second due to, among other factors, problems with screening programs, which means that one of the factors that directly impacts survival and treatment success is early detection of the disease. Clusterin (CLU) is a molecular chaperone that has been linked to tumorigenesis, cancer progression and resistance to anticancer treatments, which has made it a promising drug target.
  • 783
  • 12 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Non-Operative Management of Total Mesorectal Excision Surgery
Despite it being the optimal curative approach, elderly and frail rectal cancer patients may not be able to undergo a total mesorectal excision. Recent advancements in non-operative treatment modalities have enhanced the toolbox of alternative treatment strategies in patients unable to undergo surgery. Therefore, a proposed strategy is to aim for the maximal non-operative treatment, in an effort to avoid the onset of debilitating symptoms, improve quality of life, and prolong survival. The complexity of treating elderly and frail patients requires a patient-centred approach to personalise treatment. The main challenge is to optimise the balance between local control of disease, patient preferences, and the burden of treatment. A comprehensive geriatric assessment is a crucial element within the multidisciplinary dialogue.
  • 783
  • 09 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Immunmodulatory Treatment Strategies of HCC
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still represents a human tumor entity with very limited therapeutic options, especially for advanced stages. Here, immune checkpoint modulating drugs alone or in combination with local ablative techniques could open a new and attractive therapeutic “door” to improve outcome and response rate for patients with HCC.
  • 781
  • 05 May 2021
Topic Review
Breast Cancer “Immunogram”
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been considered for many years an orphan disease in terms of therapeutic options, with conventional chemotherapy (CT) still representing the mainstay of treatment in the majority of patients. Although breast cancer (BC) has been historically considered a “cold tumor”, exciting progress in the genomic field leading to the characterization of the molecular portrait and the immune profile of TNBC has opened the door to novel therapeutic strategies, including Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs), Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs).
  • 781
  • 07 May 2022
Topic Review
Immunotherapy Drugs and Combinations of HNCSCC
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most common non-melanoma skin cancer. A majority of patients present with localized disease, but some can present with locally advanced or metastatic disease. Most of these advanced cases occur in the anatomical head and neck region and are associated with more aggressive disease, necessitating prompt and effective treatment. Prior to the emergence of immunotherapy, systemic treatment options were limited to platinum-based chemotherapy and salvaged with targeted epidermal growth factor therapy. These therapies were associated with poor efficacy and increased toxicity in an often frail, older population. Immunotherapy has dramatically improved outcomes in this patient population due to its favorable side effect profile, durable treatment response, and improved overall outcomes. 
  • 781
  • 29 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Anti-Cancer Activities and Selective Anticancer Activities of Lycopene
Lycopene is a well-known compound found commonly in tomatoes which brings wide range of health benefits against cardiovascular diseases and cancers. From an anti-cancer perspective, lycopene is often associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer and people often look for it as a dietary supplement which may help to prevent cancer.
  • 781
  • 13 Feb 2023
Topic Review
PTEN and Cancer
The PTEN gene is an important and well-characterised tumour suppressor, known to be altered in many cancer types. Interestingly, the effect of the loss or mutation of PTEN is not dichotomous, and small changes in PTEN cellular levels can promote cancer development.
  • 781
  • 18 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Molecular Biomarkers in Prostate Cancer
There is clinically relevant molecular heterogeneity in prostate cancer (PCa), but this biological diversity has had only a minimal impact on clinical practice. Treatment outcomes in patients with localised PCa are often highly variable, even among patients stratified to the same risk group or disease state based on standard clinical and pathological parameters. In recent years, the development of gene panels has provided valuable data on the differential expression of genes in patients with PCa. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need to identify and validate prognostic and predictive biomarkers that can be applied across clinical scenarios, ranging from localised disease to metastatic castration-resistant PCa. The availability of such tools would allow for precision medicine to finally reach PCa patients.
  • 780
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
GARP and Tumor Immunosuppressive Microenvironment
Tumors are not only composed of cancer cells but also of various infiltrating cells constituting the tumor microenvironment (TME); all these cells produce growth factors which contribute to tumor progression and invasiveness. Among them, TGF-β, in particular the predominant isoform, TGF-β1, plays a major role in tumor progression due to its pleiotropic effects (1). TGF-β is, in fact, a potent immunosuppressive cytokine, impacting antitumor immune responses (2) and it has many other protumor effects related to its role in epithelial–mesenchymal transition, cell proliferation, cell invasion and angiogenesis (3,4) and resistance to treatments (5,6). However, its use as a biomarker is made difficult by the existence of several inactive forms upstream of the biologically active TGF-β. Glycoprotein-A repetition predominant (GARP) is the docking receptor for latent transforming growth factor (LTGF-β) and promotes its activation. Increased GARP expression has been found in many types of cancer. GARP is expressed by regulatory T cells and platelets in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and can be also expressed by tumor cells themselves. Thus, GARP can be widely present in tumors in which it plays a major role in the production of active TGF-β, contributing to immune evasion and cancer progression via the GARP-TGF-β axis. The objective of this review is to highlight GARP’s expression and function in cancer and to evaluate its potential as a predictive and therapeutic follow-up biomarker that could be assessed, in real time, by molecular imaging. 
  • 779
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Normal and Aberrant MiRNA and Alternative Splicing Events
MiRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that play a central role in regulating RNA silencing and gene expression. Alternative splicing increases the diversity of the proteome by producing several different spliced mRNAs from a single gene for translation. MiRNA expression and alternative splicing events are rigorously regulated processes. Dysregulation of miRNA and splicing events promote carcinogenesis and drug resistance in cancers including breast, cervical, prostate, colorectal, ovarian and leukemia. Alternative splicing may change the target mRNA 3′UTR binding site.
  • 779
  • 10 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignant neoplastic diseases. The incidence and mortality rates of this disease vary depending on geographical area, which might be explained by the different exposure to risk factors. Currently, the risk factors for pancreatic cancer fall into two broad categories, namely extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Extrinsic factors include alcohol consumption, smoking, a diet rich in saturated fats, and viral infections such as chronic infection with hepatitis B and C viruses. The pathophysiological mechanisms explaining how these hepatotropic viruses contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer are not fully elucidated. The common origin of hepatocytes and pancreatic cells in the multipotent endodermal cells, the common origin of the blood vessels and biliary ducts of the pancreas and the liver, or chronic inflammatory changes may be involved in this interaction.
  • 779
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Gold Nanoparticles for Cancer Theragnosis
Research on cancer theragnosis with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has rapidly increased, as AuNPs have many useful characteristics for various biomedical applications, such as biocompatibility, tunable optical properties, enhanced permeability and retention (EPR), localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), photothermal properties, and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). AuNPs have been widely utilized in cancer theragnosis, including phototherapy and photoimaging, owing to their enhanced solubility, stability, biofunctionality, cancer targetability, and biocompatibility.
  • 778
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Senescence for Myeloid Malignancies
Senescence is a cellular state that is involved in aging-associated diseases but may also prohibit the development of pre-cancerous lesions and tumor growth. Senescent cells are actively secreting chemo- and cytokines, and this senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) can contribute to both early anti-tumorigenic and long-term pro-tumorigenic effects.
  • 778
  • 25 Mar 2021
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