Reviews from Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research

Molecular targeted therapy for the treatment of gastric cancer

Despite the global decline in the incidence and mortality of gastric cancer, it remains one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system. Although surgical resection is the preferred treatment f...

Authors: Wenting Xu, Zhen Yang and Nonghua Lu

New trends for overcoming ABCG2/BCRP-mediated resistance to cancer therapies

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters make up a superfamily of transmembrane proteins that play a critical role in the development of drug resistance. This phenomenon is especially important in oncology, whe...

Authors: David Westover and Fengzhi Li

Metabolic reprogramming: the emerging concept and associated therapeutic strategies

Tumor tissue is composed of cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells with diverse genetic/epigenetic backgrounds, a situation known as intra-tumoral heterogeneity. Cancer cells are surrounded by a totally di...

Authors: Go J. Yoshida

Proton pump inhibitors for the treatment of cancer in companion animals

The treatment of cancer presents a clinical challenge both in human and veterinary medicine. Chemotherapy protocols require the use of toxic drugs that are not always specific, do not selectively target cancer...

Authors: Megan Walsh, Stefano Fais, Enrico Pierluigi Spugnini, Salvador Harguindey, Tareq Abu Izneid, Licia Scacco, Paula Williams, Cinzia Allegrucci, Cyril Rauch and Ziad Omran

Mutation status concordance between primary lesions and metastatic sites of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and the impact of mutation testing methodologies: a literature review

Increased understanding of the genetic aetiology of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) has facilitated personalised therapies that target specific molecular aberrations associated with the disease. B...

Authors: James Sherwood, Simon Dearden, Marianne Ratcliffe and Jill Walker

A fresh look at zebrafish from the perspective of cancer research

Zebrafish represent a vertebrate model organism that has been widely, and increasingly, employed over the last decade in the study of developmental processes, wound healing, microbe-host interactions, and drug...

Authors: Shuai Zhao, Jian Huang and Jun Ye

Signaling by exosomal microRNAs in cancer

A class of small non-coding RNAs, the microRNAs (miRNAs), have recently attracted great attention in cancer research since they play a central role in regulation of gene-expression and miRNA aberrant expressio...

Authors: Germana Falcone, Armando Felsani and Igea D’Agnano

Dual effect of oxidative stress on leukemia cancer induction and treatment

Oxidative stress (OS) has been characterized by an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a biological system’s ability to repair oxidative damage or to neutralize the reactive i...

Authors: Udensi K Udensi and Paul B Tchounwou

Progress in oncolytic virotherapy for the treatment of thyroid malignant neoplasm

Thyroid malignant neoplasm develops from follicular or parafollicular thyroid cells. A higher proportion of anaplastic thyroid cancer has an adverse prognosis. New drugs are being used in clinical treatment. H...

Authors: Mingxu Guan, Gaetano Romano, Roberta Coroniti and Earl E Henderson

P68 RNA helicase as a molecular target for cancer therapy

The DEAD-box family of RNA helicase is known to be required in virtually all cellular processes involving RNA, and p68 is a prototypic one of the family. Reports have indicated that in addition to ATPase and R...

Authors: Ting-Yu Dai, Liu Cao, Zi-Chen Yang, Ya-Shu Li, Li Tan, Xin-Ze Ran and Chun-Meng Shi

Central role of Snail1 in the regulation of EMT and resistance in cancer: a target for therapeutic intervention

Snail1 is the founding member of the Snail superfamily of zinc-finger transcription factors, which also includes Snail2 (Slug) and Snail3 (Smuc). The superfamily is involved in cell differentiation and surviva...

Authors: Samantha Kaufhold and Benjamin Bonavida

Multiple functions of hypoxia-regulated miR-210 in cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. miRNAs can be induced by a variety of stresses such as hypoxia, and are involved in diverse biological processe...

Authors: Qin Qin, Wei Furong and Li Baosheng

Hepatic arterial embolization in patients with neuroendocrine tumors

Liver metastases occur in 46-93% of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). Presence and extension of liver metastases are considered important prognostic factors, as they may significantly impair the p...

Authors: Michela Del Prete, Francesco Fiore, Roberta Modica, Vincenzo Marotta, Francesca Marciello, Valeria Ramundo, Antonella Di Sarno, Annachiara Carratù, Chiara de Luca di Roseto, Salvatore Tafuto, Fabiana Tatangelo, Robero Baldelli, Annamaria Colao and Antongiulio Faggiano

Direct effects of metformin in the endometrium: a hypothetical mechanism for the treatment of women with PCOS and endometrial carcinoma

Although a number of in vitro studies have demonstrated the antiproliferative, anti-invasive, and antimetastatic effects of metformin in multiple cancer cell types, its cellular and molecular mechanisms of ant...

Authors: Ruijin Shao, Xin Li, Yi Feng, Jin-Fang Lin and Håkan Billig

The multiple facets of drug resistance: one history, different approaches

Some cancers like melanoma and pancreatic and ovarian cancers, for example, commonly display resistance to chemotherapy, and this is the major obstacle to a better prognosis of patients. Frequently, literature...

Authors: Evandro Luís Niero, Bianca Rocha-Sales, Camila Lauand, Beatriz Araujo Cortez, Marcelo Medina de Souza, Paula Rezende-Teixeira, Marcel Shiniti Urabayashi, Adam Arai Martens, Jorge Henrique Neves and Gláucia Maria Machado-Santelli

Immunologic treatments for precancerous lesions and uterine cervical cancer

Development of HPV-associated cancers not only depends on efficient negative regulation of cell cycle control that supports the accumulation of genetic damage, but also relies on immune evasion that enable the...

Authors: Patrizia Vici, Luciano Mariani, Laura Pizzuti, Domenico Sergi, Luigi Di Lauro, Enrico Vizza, Federica Tomao, Silverio Tomao, Claudia Cavallotti, Francesca Paolini and Aldo Venuti

Clinical pharmacology of tyrosine kinase inhibitors becoming generic drugs: the regulatory perspective

Over the last decades, billions have been spent and huge efforts have been taken in basic and clinical cancer research [CA Cancer J Clin 63: 11-30]. About a decade ago, the arms race between drugs and cancer cell...

Authors: Niels Eckstein, Lea Röper, Bodo Haas, Henrike Potthast, Ulrike Hermes, Christoph Unkrig, Frauke Naumann-Winter and Harald Enzmann

Bcl-2 expression predicts sensitivity to chemotherapy in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Numerous studies have yielded inconclusive results regarding the relationship between anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 expression and the sensitivity to chemotherapy in the patients with breast cancer. The purpose...

Authors: Dong Yang, Min-Bin Chen, Li-Qiang Wang, Lan Yang, Chao-Ying Liu and Pei-Hua Lu

Regulation of microRNAs by epigenetics and their interplay involved in cancer

Similar to protein-coding genes, miRNAs are also susceptible to epigenetic modulation. Although numerous miRNAs have been shown to be affected by DNA methylation, the regulatory mechanism of histone modificati...

Authors: Xiaolan Liu, Xiaoyan Chen, Xinfang Yu, Yongguang Tao, Ann M Bode, Zigang Dong and Ya Cao

Rechallenge therapy and treatment holiday: different strategies in management of metastatic colorectal cancer

Fluoropyrimidines, oxaliplatin, irinotecan and biologic therapies (Bevacizumab, Panitumumab, and Cetuximab) represent the backbone of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. The improvement in survival f...

Authors: Giuseppe Tonini, Marco Imperatori, Bruno Vincenzi, Anna Maria Frezza and Daniele Santini

Breast cancer follow-up strategies in randomized phase III adjuvant clinical trials: a systematic review

The effectiveness of different breast cancer follow-up procedures to decrease breast cancer mortality are still an object of debate, even if intensive follow-up by imaging modalities is not recommended by inte...

Authors: Isabella Sperduti, Patrizia Vici, Nicola Tinari, Teresa Gamucci, Michele De Tursi, Giada Cortese, Antonino Grassadonia, Stefano Iacobelli and Clara Natoli

Emerging role of cancer stem cells in the biology and treatment of ovarian cancer: basic knowledge and therapeutic possibilities for an innovative approach

In 2013 there will be an estimated 22,240 new diagnoses and 14,030 deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States. Despite the improved surgical approach and the novel active drugs that are available today in...

Authors: Federica Tomao, Anselmo Papa, Luigi Rossi, Martina Strudel, Patrizia Vici, Giuseppe Lo Russo and Silverio Tomao

Breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) predict clinical outcome in platinum- and toxal-based chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients: a system review and meta-analysis

The recent studies have evaluated the relationship between BRCA1 expression and clinical outcome of chemotherapy (mainly focused on platinum-based and toxal-based treatment) in NSCLC patients, but the results wer...

Authors: Yanlong Yang, Yuanliang Xie and Lei Xian

Prognostic significance of Cdx2 immunohistochemical expression in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis of published literatures

Cdx2 is a homeobox domain-containing transcription factor that is important in the development and differentiation of the intestinal cells, and served as a potential biomarker of tumor progression in early int...

Authors: Xiao-Tong Wang, Wei-Yuan Wei, Fan-Biao Kong, Chao Lian, Wen Luo, Qiang Xiao and Yu-Bo Xie

Updates on HIPK2: a resourceful oncosuppressor for clearing cancer

Homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2) is a multitalented protein that exploits its kinase activity to modulate key molecular pathways in cancer to restrain tumor growth and induce response to therap...

Authors: Gabriella D’Orazi, Cinzia Rinaldo and Silvia Soddu

Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary: Is there a role of histology-specific treatment?

Several clinical trials to establish standard treatment modality for ovarian cancers included a high abundance of patients with serous histologic tumors, which were quite sensitive to platinum-based chemothera...

Authors: Masashi Takano, Hiroshi Tsuda and Toru Sugiyama

Circulating microRNAs in cancer: origin, function and application

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. The dysregulation of miRNAs has been linked to a series of diseases, including various ty...

Authors: Ruimin Ma, Tao Jiang and Xixiong Kang

Therapeutic strategies in epithelial ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. It appears that the vast majority of what seem to be primary epithelial ovarian and primary peritoneal carcinomas is, in fact, secondary from the fimbr...

Authors: Ayako Kim, Yutaka Ueda, Tetsuji Naka and Takayuki Enomoto

Adjuvant chemotherapy for resected non-small-cell lung cancer: future perspectives for clinical research

Adjuvant chemotherapy for non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is a debated issue in clinical oncology. Although it is considered a standard for resected stage II-IIIA patients according to the available guid...

Authors: Maria Bonomi, Sara Pilotto, Michele Milella, Francesco Massari, Sara Cingarlini, Matteo Brunelli, Marco Chilosi, Giampaolo Tortora and Emilio Bria

The mechanisms by which polyamines accelerate tumor spread

Increased polyamine concentrations in the blood and urine of cancer patients reflect the enhanced levels of polyamine synthesis in cancer tissues arising from increased activity of enzymes responsible for poly...

Authors: Kuniyasu Soda

Platinum resistance in breast and ovarian cancer cell lines

Breast and ovarian cancers are among the 10 leading cancer types in females with mortalities of 15% and 6%, respectively. Despite tremendous efforts to conquer malignant diseases, the war on cancer declared by Ri...

Authors: Niels Eckstein

Apoptosis in cancer: from pathogenesis to treatment

Apoptosis is an ordered and orchestrated cellular process that occurs in physiological and pathological conditions. It is also one of the most studied topics among cell biologists. An understanding of the unde...

Authors: Rebecca SY Wong

Oncogene addiction in gliomas: Implications for molecular targeted therapy

Oncogene addiction is a phenomenon that the survival of cancer cells depends on an activated oncogene or inactivation of tumor suppressor gene, and is regarded as the 'Achilles heel' of the successful molecula...

Authors: Wei Yan, Wei Zhang and Tao Jiang

Maintenance therapy in NSCLC: why? To whom? Which agent?

Maintenance therapy is emerging as a treatment strategy in the management of advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Initial trials addressing the question of duration of combination chemotherapy failed t...

Authors: Silvia Novello, Michele Milella, Marcello Tiseo, Giuseppe Banna, Diego Cortinovis, Massimo Di Maio, Marina Garassino, Paolo Maione, Olga Martelli, Tiziana Vavalà and Emilio Bria

Down-regulation of UHRF1, associated with re-expression of tumor suppressor genes, is a common feature of natural compounds exhibiting anti-cancer properties

Over-expressed in numerous cancers, Ubiquitin-like containing PHD Ring Finger 1 (UHRF1, also known as ICBP90 or Np95) is characterized by a SRA domain (Set and Ring Associated) which is found only in the UHRF fam...

Authors: Mahmoud Alhosin, Tanveer Sharif, Marc Mousli, Nelly Etienne-Selloum, Guy Fuhrmann, Valérie B Schini-Kerth and Christian Bronner

The immunoregulatory mechanisms of carcinoma for its survival and development

The immune system in patients detects and eliminates tumor cells, but tumors still progress persistently. The mechanisms by which tumor cells survive under the pressure of immune surveillance are not fully und...

Authors: Caigan Du and Yuzhuo Wang

The association of Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus with colorectal tumors: The nature and the underlying mechanisms of its etiological role

Streptococcus bovis (S. bovis) bacteria are associated with colorectal cancer and adenoma. S. bovis is currently named S. gallolyticus. 25 to 80% of patients with S. bovis/gallolyticus bacteremia have concomitant...

Authors: Ahmed S Abdulamir, Rand R Hafidh and Fatimah Abu Bakar

Stem cells in clinical practice: applications and warnings

Stem cells are a relevant source of information about cellular differentiation, molecular processes and tissue homeostasis, but also one of the most putative biological tools to treat degenerative diseases. Th...

Authors: Daniele Lodi, Tommaso Iannitti and Beniamino Palmieri

Cellular apoptosis susceptibility (CSE1L/CAS) protein in cancer metastasis and chemotherapeutic drug-induced apoptosis

The cellular apoptosis susceptibility (CSE1L/CAS) protein is highly expressed in cancer, and its expression is positively correlated with high cancer stage, high cancer grade, and worse outcomes of patients. C...

Authors: Cheng-Jeng Tai, Chung-Huei Hsu, Shing-Chuan Shen, Woan-Ruoh Lee and Ming-Chung Jiang

Current implications of cyclophilins in human cancers

Authors: Jinhwa Lee and Sung Soo Kim

Patient positioning in the proton radiotherapy era

The main hindrance to the diffusion of proton therapy facilities is the high cost for gantry installations. An alternative technical option is provided by fixed-beam treatment rooms, where the patient is rotat...

Authors: Salvatore Devicienti, Lidia Strigari, Marco D'Andrea, Marcello Benassi, Vincenzo Dimiccoli and Maurizio Portaluri

Proton pump inhibitors as anti vacuolar-ATPases drugs: a novel anticancer strategy

The vacuolar ATPases are ATP-dependent proton pumps whose functions include the acidification of intracellular compartments and the extrusion of protons through the cell cytoplasmic membrane. These pumps play ...

Authors: Enrico P Spugnini, Gennaro Citro and Stefano Fais

Oncoprotein metastasis and its suppression revisited

The past two decades have witnessed an increasing appreciation of the role of the tumor microenvironment, of genetic and epigenetic alterations in normal cells adjacent to tumors and of the migration of normal...

Authors: Razvan T Radulescu

Current research in perineural invasion of cholangiocarcinoma

Perineural invasion is a common path for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) metastasis, and it is highly correlated with postoperative recurrence and poor prognosis. It is often an early event in a disease that is commo...

Authors: Fang-Zhen Shen, Bing-Yuan Zhang, Yu-Jie Feng, Zhuo-Xia Jia, Bing An, Chang-Chang Liu, Xi-Yun Deng, Anil D Kulkarni and Yun Lu

Somatostatin analogues in the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, current aspects and new perspectives

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP NETs) are rare tumours that present many clinical features.

Authors: Marialuisa Appetecchia and Roberto Baldelli

Ultrastaging of lymph node in uterine cancers

Lymph node status is an important prognostic factor and a criterion for adjuvant therapy in uterine cancers. While detection of micrometastases by ultrastaging techniques is correlated to prognosis in several ...

Authors: Corinne Bézu, Charles Coutant, Marcos Ballester, Jean-Guillaume Feron, Roman Rouzier, Serge Uzan and Emile Daraï

Relationship between the expression of hTERT and EYA4 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells with the progressive stages of carcinogenesis of the esophagus

To establish a relationship between esophageal squamous cell diseases and the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and Eyes absent 4 (EYA4) mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Authors: Hao Li, Tao Yu Diao, Zhi Ying Zhou, Fang Yan Yang, Qing Ma and Qing Hui Li

Urinary estrogen metabolites and prostate cancer: a case-control study and meta-analysis

To investigate prostate cancer (Pca) risk in relation to estrogen metabolism, expressed as urinary 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1), 16α-hydroxyestrone (16α-OHE1) and 2-OHE1 to 16α-OHE1 ratio.

Authors: Maddalena Barba, Li Yang, Holger J Schünemann, Francesca Sperati, Sara Grioni, Saverio Stranges, Kim C Westerlind, Giovanni Blandino, Michele Gallucci, Rossella Lauria, Luca Malorni and Paola Muti

Chromophobe renal cell cancer - review of the literature and potential methods of treating metastatic disease

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) is a subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). ChRCC is diagnosed mainly in 6th decade of life. An incidence of ChRCC is similar in both men and woman. Eighty six percent ...

Authors: Rafał Stec, Bartłomiej Grala, Michał Mączewski, Lubomir Bodnar and Cezary Szczylik

Adjuvant electrochemotherapy in veterinary patients: a model for the planning of future therapies in humans

The treatment of soft tissue tumors needs the coordinated adoption of surgery with radiation therapy and eventually, chemotherapy. The radiation therapy (delivered with a linear accelerator) can be preoperativ...

Authors: Enrico P Spugnini, Gennaro Citro and Alfonso Baldi