Biomedicines

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Seok-Jun Kim

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Guest Editor

Department of Biomedical Science, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea
Interests: gastric cancer; signal transduction (Wnt and Notch signaling); inflammation; drug repositioning; aptamers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Valentina Calò

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Guest Editor

Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, Section of Medical Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: oncology; cancer research; molecular biology; genetics; BRCA 1\2; genetic diseases; gene signatures

Dr. Marta Castiglia

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, Section of Medical Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: human genetics; molecular genetics; biomarker discovery; translational research; liquid biopsy (circulating tumor DNA and exosomes)

Dr. Nadia Barraco

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, Section of Medical Oncology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: molecular biomarker; colon cancer; gastric cancer; pancreatic cancer; genetics; therapeutic targets; precision medicine; tumor microenvironment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue on “Gastrointestinal Cancers: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapies” will mainly focus on analyzing present and future approaches for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer patients, with a glimpse of novel perspectives and future challenges in clinical practice. Gastrointestinal cancers are one of the most common worldwide cause of cancer-related death. In the last decade, significant improvements have been made in the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal cancers deriving from the development of modern tailored therapies, which include cytotoxic drugs, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy. Recently, emerging and novel biomarkers have been identified and validated with a huge impact on patients’ outcomes and improving the treatment landscape. Despite these advances, gastrointestinal cancers still represent a major public health problem worldwide; hence, it is mandatory to develop novel therapeutic approaches for patients affected by those cancers. We cordially invite experts in the field to submit original research or review articles pertaining to this important and fast-progressing field of biomedicine.

Dr. Seok-Jun Kim
Dr. Valentina Calò
Guest Editors
Dr. Marta Castiglia
Dr. Nadia Barraco
Co-Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

molecular biomarker
colon cancer
gastric cancer
pancreatic cancer
genetics
therapeutic targets
precision medicine
tumor microenvironment

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3560 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CD44v6 High Membranous Expression Is a Predictive Marker of Therapy Response in Gastric Cancer Patients

by Gabriela M Almeida, Carla Pereira, Ji-Hyeon Park, Carolina Lemos, Sofia Campelos, Irene Gullo, Diana Martins, Gilza Gonçalves, Dina Leitão, João Luís Neto, Ana André, Clara Borges, Daniela Almeida, Hyuk-Joon Lee, Seong-Ho Kong, Woo Ho Kim, Fátima Carneiro, Raquel Almeida, Han-Kwang Yang and Carla Oliveira

Biomedicines 2021, 9(9), 1249; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomedicines9091249 - 18 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2032

Abstract

In gastric cancer (GC), biomarkers that define prognosis and predict treatment response remain scarce. We hypothesized that the extent of CD44v6 membranous tumor expression could predict prognosis and therapy response in GC patients. Two GC surgical cohorts, from Portugal and South Korea (n = 964), were characterized for the extension of CD44v6 membranous immuno-expression, clinicopathological features, patient survival, and therapy response. The value of CD44v6 expression in predicting response to treatment and its impact on prognosis was determined. High CD44v6 expression was associated with invasive features (perineural invasion and depth of invasion) in both cohorts and with worse survival in the Portuguese GC cohort (HR 1.461; 95% confidence interval 1.002–2.131). Patients with high CD44v6 tumor expression benefited from conventional chemotherapy in addition to surgery (p < 0.05), particularly those with heterogeneous CD44v6-positive and -negative populations (CD44v6_3+) (p < 0.007 and p < 0.009). Our study is the first to identify CD44v6 high membranous expression as a potential predictive marker of response to conventional treatment, but it does not clarify CD44v6 prognostic value in GC. Importantly, our data support selection of GC patients with high CD44v6-expressing tumors for conventional chemotherapy in addition to surgery. These findings will allow better stratification of GC patients for treatment, potentially improving their overall survival. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gastrointestinal Cancers: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapies)

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Review

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11 pages, 620 KiB

Open AccessReview

Heat Shock Factor 1 as a Prognostic and Diagnostic Biomarker of Gastric Cancer

by Woong Kim and Seok-Jun Kim

Biomedicines 2021, 9(6), 586; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomedicines9060586 - 21 May 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2001

Abstract

Identification of effective prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers is needed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. Early detection of gastric cancer through diagnostic markers can help establish effective treatments. Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), presented in this review, is known to be regulated by a broad range of transcription factors, including those characterized in various malignant tumors, including gastric cancer. Particularly, it has been demonstrated that HSF1 regulation in various cancers is correlated with different processes, such as cell death, proliferation, and metastasis. Due to the effect of HSF1 on the initiation, development, and progression of various tumors, it is considered as an important gene for understanding and treating tumors. Additionally, HSF1 exhibits high expression in various cancers, and its high expression adversely affects the prognosis of various cancer patients, thereby suggesting that it can be used as a novel, predictive, prognostic, and diagnostic biomarker for gastric cancer. In this review, we discuss the literature accumulated in recent years, which suggests that there is a correlation between the expression of HSF1 and prognosis of gastric cancer patients through public data. Consequently, this evidence also indicates that HSF1 can be established as a powerful biomarker for the prognosis and diagnosis of gastric cancer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gastrointestinal Cancers: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapies)

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