Cancer Therapeutic Targets

Radioimmunotherapy, also known as systemic targeted radiation therapy, uses antibodies, antibody fragments, or compounds as carriers to guide radiation to the targets. It is a topic rapidly increasing in importance and success in treatment of cancer patients. This book represents a comprehensive amalgamation of the radiation physics, chemistry, radiobiology, tumor models, and clinical data for targeted radionuclide therapy. It outlines the current challenges and provides a glimpse at future directions. With significant advances in cell biology and molecular engineering, many targeting constructs are now available that will safely deliver these highly cytotoxic radionuclides in a targeted fashion. A companion website includes the full text and an image bank.

This work covers the pathophysiology of cancer, exploring the difficulty of optimal treatment due to the complexity and diversity of cancer types. The search for distinctive molecular biology characteristics of tumor cells is especially relevant in the identification of overexpressed receptors and proteins that can be used as a target for cancer treatment. We highlight the main therapeutic modalities, particularly conventional systemic chemotherapy, addressing its mechanisms of action, therapeutic classes and even the toxic effects. We also describe the main tumor markers, their importance in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and the specificity of tumor cells. The first chapters serve as an introduction to the central topic of this book, targeted therapy. Key aspects of target therapy, such as classes of drugs, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines and tyrosine kinase inhibitors are presented, and, for each one, the benefits, as well as the adverse effects are reported. Chapter 6 compares conventional systemic chemotherapy and targeted therapy, identifies the risks and benefits and also the eligibility criteria for patient care. The possibility of targeted therapy replacing conventional chemotherapy is discussed while reviewing studies that demonstrate the benefits of combining both types of treatment. Finally, the introduction of pharmaceutical nanotechnology to improve antineoplastic agents is addressed in the last chapter and sets the direction for future research in cancer treatment. This is a valuable resource for many health professionals including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, researchers and students interested in the field of oncology.

This new volume updates the reader on selected areas of targeted therapy in breast cancer, with special emphasis on chemoprevention strategies, drug resistance, biomarkers, combination chemotherapy, angiogenesis inhibition and pharmacogenomics in the context of clinical efficacy. This selected review of targeted therapies will guide the reader on effective treatment as part of an integrated programme of patient management.

This unique book deals with both inflammation and cancer in a single source of publication. They are seldom grouped together although it has been known that both diseases are closely associated, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract and liver. As the book touches on two such major areas of diseases in humans, it should be of interest to a wider audience of researchers and readers. It is noted that the book combines the effort of both basic scientists and clinicians from different countries with extensive experiences in molecular biology and clinical practice to unveil the most updated picture of the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of inflammation and cancer in the digestive tract. In this regard, potential pathogenic modulators and also therapeutic options are widely discussed. These types of information would definitely broaden our knowledge in better understanding these diseases. Contents:General Introduction to Inflammation and Cancer in the Digestive Tract (Ming Xing Li and Chi Hin Cho)Inflammation and Therapeutics in the Digestive Tract:Brain–Gut Relationship on Mucosal Inflammation in the Gastrointestinal Tract (Klara Gyires and Ágnes Fehér)Nesfatin-1: The Novel Appetite Peptide with Therapeutic Efficacy to Prevent Acute Hemorrhagic Gastric Lesions and Accelerate Gastric Ulcer Healing (Aleksandra Szlachcic, Jolanta Majka, and Tomasz Brzozowski)Chemoprophylaxis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Nikola Mitrev, Aladdin Alswaifi, and Rupert W Leong)Targeting the Nuclear Receptor HNF4α as a Potential Therapy for Gut Inflammation and Cancer (Jean-Philippe Babeu and François Boudreau)Established Therapies and New Therapeutic Strategies in Alcoholic Liver Disease (Helmut Karl Seitz and Sebastian Mueller)Carcinogenesis and Therapeutic Targets in the Gastrointestinal Tract:Targets of Tumor Epigenetics and Its Microenvironment in Gastrointestinal Cancer (Ssu-Yin Yen, Hong-Meng Chuang, Mao-Hsuan Huang, Sheng-Feng Tsai, Tzyy-Wen Chiou, Hong-Lin Su, Li-Ing Ho, Shinn-Zong Lin, and Horng-Jyh Harn)Esophageal Cancer: From Bench to Bedside (Gang Ma and Zhihua Liu)Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis in Gastric MALT Lymphoma: Relation of VEGF and VASH2 (Masahiko Nakamura, Anders Øverby, and Hidenori Matsui)NF-κB as a Potential Molecular Target for Therapy of Gastrointestinal Cancers (Nathan Palmer, Muthu K Shanmugam, Gautam Sethi, and Philipp Kaldis)Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1κ Modulation in Colorectal Carcinogenesis (Francesco Mariani, Stefano Mancini, Paola Sena, and Luca Roncucci)Therapeutic Approaches Targeting the Serrated Pathway of Colorectal Cancer Characterized by Mutation in the BRAF Gene and Overexpression of GTPase Rac1b (Paulo Matos, Vânia Gonçalves, and Peter Jordan)The "Yin" and "Yang" of Target-Oriented Anticancer Phytochemicals Derived from Herbal Medicines (Kathy K Auyeung and Joshua K S Ko)The Degradation System of Prostaglandin E2 in Gastrointestinal Cancer (Tetsuya Tanigawa, Toshio Watanabe, Shogo Takeda, Hiroshi Tatsuwaki, Masatsugu Shiba, Kazunari Tominaga, Yasuhiro Fujiwara, and Tetsuo Arakawa)Prostaglandin and Its Receptors: Potential Targets for Gastrointestinal Inflammation and Cancer (Vivian Y Shin and Ava Kwong)Autophagy and microRNAs as the Therapeutic Targets in Gastrointestinal Cancers:Modulation of Autophagy as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Gastrointestinal Cancers: Promises and Uncertainties (Li Ma)microRNAs as Therapeutic Targets for Gastric Cancer (Takatsugu Ishimoto and Hideo Baba)microRNA-based Novel Therapeutic Development in Gastrointestinal Cancer (Andrew Fesler and Jingfang Ju)Unraveling the Relationship between Autophagy and microRNA in Gastrointestinal Cancer (Yuanyuan Yin, Peiqi Wang, Yaxin Zheng, Yi Chen, and Jinhui Wang) Readership: Basic and clinical researchers in the fields of inflammation, hepatology, pathology, pharmacology, oncology and gastroenterology. Can be used as a reference for their research and clinical practice in academic and industrial sectors.