Biomarkers Functional Mechanisms And Therapeutic Potentials In Gastrointestinal Cancers

Significant changes in diet, environment, and population increase gastrointestinal cancer morbidity. A growing number of novel biomarkers and underlying mechanisms are being elucidated, some of which may even conflict with assumptions of past decades. Therefore, collecting recent findings on novel diagnostic/prognostic factors, biomarkers, and/or risk factors in gastrointestinal cancers is a prerequisite for a better understanding of the disease. Despite remarkable progressions in surgical treatments and chemotherapies, the prognosis of gastrointestinal cancer is far from satisfactory due to the high occurrence of drug resistance. Based on the identification of novel biomarkers as well as their underlying mechanisms, targeted drug development will provide significant complementary therapeutic effects to conventional chemoradiotherapies. High-throughput methods such as next-generation sequencing on RNA level and mass spectrometry on protein/lipid/metabolite level serve as efficient strategies for biomarker identification and drug development. This Research Topic aims at presenting recent advances on gastrointestinal cancer biomarkers and their underlying functional mechanisms, providing a better understanding of carcinogenesis, tumor progression, tumor relapse, as well as drug resistance. This will subsequently contribute to the development of novel therapeutic interventions targeting gastrointestinal cancers, thus improving patients' outcomes.

This volume discusses the latest advancements and technologies used in cancer drug resistance research. Cancer Drug Resistance: Overviews and Methods contains chapters that cover topics such as: studying the mechanics of resistance to DNA damaging therapeutic drugs; studies to delineate the role of efflux transporters; expression of drug transporters; resistance to targeted therapies in breast cancer; the role of microRNAs in current pancreatic cancer treatment; and cancer exosomes as mediators of drug resistance or clinical and molecular methods in drug development and the use of bioinformatics in the management of cancer drug resistance data. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include overviews of the main issues in cancer drug resistance and the respective mechanisms, as well as introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Cancer Drug Resistance: Overviews and Methods, is a valuable resource to researchers, oncobiologists and clinical oncologists or anyone else who is interested in the study of cancer and its drug resistances.

This book describes various novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. It also highlights recent advances in understanding the role of molecular markers and biomarkers, such as volatile biomarkers, serum biomarkers, predictive and prognostic molecular markers for the early detection of GI cancers. Further, it discusses novel biomarkers, including circulating microRNAs, serum microRNA and plasma microRNA in GI cancer. The book presents breakthrough technologies like ultra-sensitive nano-chips, nanosensors, nanodevices, biosensors, electrochemical biosensors, optical biosensors, DNA biosensors, synthetic biology devices, and 'omics' technologies for the early diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer. In addition it examines the potential of genome-wide association studies, big data analytics, computation biology, systems biology, and nanotechnology for early diagnostics and therapeutics for gastrointestinal cancer, with a focus on personalized cancer treatment. The book is a valuable source for researchers and clinicians engaged in detection and diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers.

Metastatic Disease of the Nervous System, Volume 149, begins with an overview of the impact and range of direct neoplastic involvement of the central and peripheral nervous system, comprehensively reviewing all aspects of brain metastases, from clinical, radiological and neuropathological manifestations, to the roles of surgery, radiation, systemic and palliative therapy in their management, and the complications of these interventions. The clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of leptomeningeal, dural, spinal epidural and plexus metastases are also covered in detail. Covers all aspects of brain metastases, from clinical, radiological and neuropathological manifestations, to the roles of surgery, radiation, systemic and palliative therapy Presents a multidisciplinary review of the evidence regarding accuracy of diagnostic testing and evidence-based reviews of therapies Addresses metastatic diseases of the nervous system for residents, fellows and clinicians in neurology and oncology

This book explores in depth the relation between physical activity and cancer control, including primary prevention, coping with treatments, recovery after treatments, long-term survivorship, secondary prevention, and survival. The first part of the book presents the most recent research on the impact of physical activity in preventing a range of cancers. In the second part, the association between physical activity and cancer survivorship is addressed. The effects of physical activity on supportive care endpoints (e.g., quality of life, fatigue, physical functioning) and disease endpoints (e.g., biomarkers, recurrence, survival) are carefully analyzed. In addition, the determinants of physical activity in cancer survivors are discussed, and behavior change strategies for increasing physical activity in cancer survivors are appraised. The final part of the book is devoted to special topics, including the relation of physical activity to pediatric cancer survivorship and to palliative cancer care.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, including gastric cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer, seriously threaten the health of human beings worldwide with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. The clinical successes achieved with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 have opened a new cancer therapy era and brought new hope to cancer patients. However, the overall response rate (ORR) of ICI monotherapy in the non-selective population is only about 20%, in which some patients subsequently develop immunotherapy resistance. Moreover, the remaining 70-80% of patients displayed primary resistance to ICIs, and a few patients even experienced hyper progression disease (HPD). Although PD-L1 expression, mismatch repair deficient (MMRd), high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) , high homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), and tumor infiltrated immune cells (TILs) are known as effective biomarkers for immunotherapy, growing studies have reported that ICIs could not improve the OS of all patients with PD-L1 expression higher than 50%, and the ORR of MSI-H patients was only about 60%, whereas some patients with low PD-L1 expression or MSS could still benefit from immunotherapy, indicating the complexity of ICI resistance. Therefore, it is of great importance and significance to explore the prediction biomarkers for primary or acquired immunotherapy resistance and elucidate their underlying molecular mechanisms and develop reversal strategies. Due to the multiple steps of the cancer immune cycle and complex immune microenvironment, any disorders of immune cell infiltration or T cell activation, such as lack of antigens and/or their presentation, lack of response to antigen presentation, and T cell priming, could contribute to ICI resistance. The combination with anti-angiogenesis therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and other ICIs has improved the efficacy of ICI therapy to some extent in the clinic. Although numerous studies related to ICI resistance were reported in GI cancers, due to the strong spatial/temporal heterogeneity and the complex immune microenvironment in different kinds of GI cancers and different individuals, many questions about ICI resistance and reversal strategies remain unsolved. The aim of this Research Topic is to provide a forum to exhibit the latest research achievement related to the exploration of biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance including HPD and the underlying molecular mechanisms, as well as the development of reversal strategies in GI cancers. We hope this Research Topic will lead to a better understanding of precision cancer immunotherapy and provide useful clues for clinical application to benefit more GI cancer patients with immunotherapy.

With an annual rate of more than 12 million global diagnoses and 7.6 million deaths, the societal and economic burden of cancer cannot be overstated. Brain metastases are the most common malignant tumors of the central nervous system, yet their incidence appears to be increasing in spite of the advancement of cancer therapies. While much is known about primary cancers (including primary brain tumors), less work has been done to uncover the roots of metastatic disease. Brain Metastases from Primary Tumors Volume 1 fills that gap, serving as the first reference to focus primarily on the link between primary cancers and brain metastases. This link is explored for the most common cancer types – lung, breast, and melanoma. Additionally, biological background as well as therapy for CNS metastases is addressed. Age and gender related trends are also discussed, as is the use of biomarkers for early detection. The only comprehensive reference detailing the link between primary cancers and brain metastases Aids the target audience in determining the incidence of brain metastases in patients with a primary cancer Provided education about the potential use of biomarkers for early detection, diagnosis and prevention of the spread of primary cancer to the brain Documents temporal and gender-related trends in brain metastases from other cancers Edited work with chapters authored by leaders in the field around the globe – the broadest, most expert coverage available