15018752330
发表时间:2015-12-03 浏览次数:542次
It is a great honor for me to introduce the third issue of the Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment.
This is a special issue focusing on recent advances in research and
treatment for gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. Cancers arising from
the GI tract, including esophagus, stomach, colorectum, liver,
gallbladder and pancreas, are frequently observed all over the world.
According to the global cancer statistics 2012, there were approximately
407,000 newly diagnosed cases with GI cancers and 304,000 deaths among
them.
They accounted for 29% and 37% of all cancers excluding non-melanoma
skin cancer respectively. Recent progress in molecular biological
techniques facilitated the understanding of the mechanism of cancer
development and progression. This issue contains nine review articles
concerning the topics which attract a lot of attention in the field of
GI malignancies.
Epigenetic alterations regulate gene expression
through mechanisms other than changes in the DNA sequence. DNA
methylation abnormality, a major epigenetic process observed in many
types of cancers, is characterized by global hypomethylation and
site-specific CpG island hypermethylation. Shigaki et al. summarize the accumulated evidence for clinical application to use
aberrant DNAmethylation levels in GI cancers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which
are small non-coding RNA molecules, also regulate gene expression at the
post-transcriptional level and play important roles in modulating
various biological processes. Some miRNAs act as onco-miR through
attenuating the expression of tumor suppressor genes, while others act
as tumor suppressor miR through suppressing the expression of oncogenes.
Owing to the stability in plasma as well as formalin-fixed paraffin
embedded samples, various miRNAs have been reported to be biomarkers in
human cancers. Hiyoshi et al. document the utility of miRNAs as novel diagnostic/prognostic tools as well as therapeutic targets in GI cancers.
Adenocarcinoma
of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction has dramatically increased
in Western countries for several decades and recently an increasing
trend is also observed in Asian countries. Although Barrett's esophagus
is well known as a precursor of esophageal adenocarcinoma, the molecular
mechanism has remained unclear until recently. Imamura et al. demonstrate recent progress in the understanding of the molecular
mechanisms of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.
Chronic
inflammation is known to induce carcinogenesis. Among GI cancers,
adenocarcinoma arising from Barrett's esophagus, gastric cancer from
chronic gastritis due to Helicobacter pylori infection, and colitic cancer from inflammatory bowel disease, are well known as tumors related to chronic inflammation. Ida et al. summarize molecular mechanisms that link chronic inflammation and GI cancers.
Cancer
metastasis develops through multiple steps, including invasion,
vascular permeation, circulation, arrest and extravasation,
proliferation and angiogenesis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)
is considered to be essential for tumor invasion and metastasis. Okabe et al.
review the mechanisms of EMT as well as molecules, which play important
roles during EMT in GI cancers. Recent advances in technology enabled
not only to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) but also to elucidate
the characteristics of CTCs. Iwatsuki et al. summarize the recent
advances in methodology for detecting CTCs and discuss the implication
of CTC analysis in clinical and translational research.
Cancer stem cells have the abilities for self-renewal and
differentiation, and are responsible for cancer metastasis and
chemoresistance. Recently, it has been revealed that cancer cells can
change their characteristics reversibly from stem cells to non-stem
cells, under the genetic and epigenetic regulations as well as the
influence of microenvironmental factors. On the other hand,
environmental factors such as chronic inflammation, obesity, metabolism
and nutrition have been reported to influence carcinogenesis and the
progression of colorectal cancer. Izumi et al. document how
microenvironmental factors affect maintaining stem cell properties in
colorectal cancer. In tumor cells, genetic mutations and tumor
microenvironment, such as hypoxia, cause alterations in multiple
signaling pathways and then the altered signals affect cellular
metabolism. The most famous metabolic phenotype characteristics of
cancer cells are the Warburg effect: ATP are generated through
glycolysis instead of oxidative phosphorylation, even under normoxic
conditions. Aberrant metabolism in tumor cells can generate the
abnormally high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which induce
senescence or apoptosis. To counter such oxidative stress, cancer cells
exert tight regulation of ROS and antioxidants in such a way that the
cell survives and the levels of ROS are reduced to moderate levels.Sawayama et al. review the molecular mechanism of cancer metabolism, and demonstrate possible therapeutic strategies targeting metabolism.
Molecular
targeted drugs block the pathways specifically involved in
tumorigenesis and the progression of cancers. Several targeted drugs
have already been introduced into cancer treatment, and vascular
endothelial growth factor and epithelial growth factor receptor are two
major targets in the treatment for colorectal cancer. An antibody
targets HER-2 has become a standard choice for gastric cancer with HER-2
overexpression/amplification. Currently, many candidate-targeted agents
are under clinical or preclinical study. Eto et al. summarize trends in the clinical use of targeted drugs for GI cancers.
All
of nine, first authors of review articles in this issue are young
researchers who had started their research career at the Department of
Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences,
Kumamoto University. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to
Prof. Hideo Baba and all members in his department for their guidance
and support for this project. I am very happy if you enjoyed this
special issue.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References
1.Torre LA, Bray F, Siegel RL, Ferlay J, Lortet-Tieulent J, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics, 2012. CA Cancer J Clin 2015;65:87-108.
2.Cairns RA, Harris IS, Mak TW. Regulation of cancer cell metabolism. Nat Rev Cancer 2011;11:85-95.