Special Issue "Biomarkers: Oncology Studies"

Guest Editor
Dr. Sonia Pearson-White
Scientific Program Manager, The Biomarkers Consortium Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, F9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
E-Mail:
Phone: +1 301-435-4103
Interests: molecular genetics; biomarkers; oncology; TGF-beta signaling oncogene/proto-oncogene; stem cells

Dear Colleagues,

The 2004 FDA Critical Path Initiative challenged the pharmaceutical industry to reduce the time (12-15 years) and expense (~$1-2 billion) to bring an oncology drug to market. Biomarkers are seen as key to reducing the time and expense for this. There are thousands of cancer-related biomarker references in the literature, but only a handful of oncology biomarkers have been validated for clinical use. We are interested in papers covering all aspects of biomarker discovery, validation, and qualification in any area of oncology (see cancer list at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers/about). Biomarkers can be circulating molecules or cells, pharmacogenomics, GWAS, or imaging. Biomarker measurements can include techniques such as microarray analyses or signature combinations from microarrays (e.g. Mammaprint(tm)), new assays for measuring known biomarkers such as HER2 or ER, reverse phase protein microarray (RPMA), circulating tumor cells, and imaging science studies (e.g. FDG-PET, DCE-MRI, DW-MRI, MR spectroscopy). Of particular interest are biomarkers based on fundamental understanding of cancer biology, or that add to that understanding.

Dr. Sonia Pearson-White
Guest Editor

Related Special Issues in other Journals

Biomarkers: Environmental Research and Public Health in IJERPH

Submission

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. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as 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 refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly 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 500 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: New Molecular and Biological Biomarkers from Tumor Tissues or a Circulating Tumor/ Tumor-Related Cells and CDC/ADCC
Author: Kiyohiko Hatake
Affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Hematology, Ambulatory therapy center, Newer drug development center, Division of Clinical Chemotherapy, Cancer Chemotherapy Center, Olympus Bio-imaging Laboratory, Cancer Institute Hospital, 3-10-6, Ariake, Koto-ku, 135-8550 Tokyo, Japan; E-Mail: khatake@jfcr.or.jp
Abstract: Molecular biomarkers such as K-ras, B-raf, smad4, ALK and biological markers such as circulating tumor cells, circulating endothelial progenitors and CDC/ADCC susceptibility can predict the response or resistance to molecular targeting drugs. K-ras is a topical key gene to determine the indication of anti-EGFR antibody-containing treatment for colorectal cancer, and ALK is a key molecule to determine anti-ALK inhibitors. In the downstream of EGFR signal transduction, B-raf or PI3KA is important determinant. CDC/ADCC is a powerful tool for determination of the response to antibody for lymphoma, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. We introduce the bio-imaging system for minute sample analysis for biomarkers.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Identification of the Receptor for Alpha-fetoprotein and Its derived Peptides: Review Of A Potential New Cancer Biomarker
Author: Gerald J. Mizejewski
Affiliation: Fetal Defect Markers Laboratory Wadsworth Research Center, Albany, New York 12201, USA; E-Mail: mizejew@wadsworth.org
Abstract: The identification of a putative receptor for Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has long been sought in the biomedical literature. The uptake of AFP by rat tumor cells in 1983 spurred a series of published reports that not only confirmed these observations, but also extended them to include multiple tumor types in rats, mice, and humans.The following year, French investigators partially characterized the binding properties of the AFP receptor but were unable to purify the receptor.It was not until 1991-1992 that an AFP receptor was isolated (not purified) and partially characterized from human monocytes and breast cancer cells. By 1993, a monoclonal antibody was produced against the breast cancer version of the AFP receptor with claims that the receptor was a widespread (universal) oncofetal antigen biomarker for cancer. However, the receptor has yet to this day been cloned and/or purified due to its complex multimeric composition. The present report will review the literature of the AFP receptor including cellular uptake of AFP, free and bound molecular forms, and characterization of the reported cell surface receptors. Evidence derived from computer modeling, proteolytic degradation patterns, and proteonomic analysis will be presented as tenative identification of a gene family that fits most, if not all, the criteria required for the AFP receptor.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Development of Biomarkers for Glioma
Authors: Jing Zhang and Biaoyang Lin
Affiliation: Dept. of Urology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; E-Mail: bylin@u.washington.edu
Abstract: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive type of primary intrinsic brain tumor in humans. Because of its high aggressiveness and poor prognosis, survival of GBM patients is very low, even with aggressive surgical, radio- and chemo- therapies. Biomarkers for early diagnosis, for predicting chemo- and radio-therapy response, as well as for tumor imaging and in monitoring disease progression are all needed. Here, we review recent progress in biomarker discoveries using advanced genomics, proteomics and nanotechnologies.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Biomarkers for Incoming Drugs in Human Gliomas
Authors: Ana Custodio¹, Inmaculada Ibañez de Caceres^1,2, Javier de Castro¹, Rosario Perona² and Cristobal Belda-Iniesta¹
Affiliations: ¹ Translational Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics Unit CSIC/UAM at Medical Oncology Division, University Hospital La Paz, Paseo de la Castellana, 261, Madrid, Spain; E-Mail: cbelda.hulp@salud.madrid.org
² Translational Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics Unit CSIC/UAM at Biomedical Research Institute “Alberto Sols”, c/Arturo Duperier 9, Madrid, Spain
Abstract: Gliomas are the most prevalent type of primary brain tumor in adults and the prognosis of patients remains poor. In addition, clinical heterogeneity is a fact and patients with a same histological diagnosis may have disparate therapeutic outcomes. So, neuro-oncologists need biomarkers to predict tumour behaviour that allow clinicians to delineate an appropriate and personalized approach for individual patients. An increased understanding of the molecular pathways involved in progression of gliomas has led to the isolation of potential diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers, some bearing clinical implications for targeted therapy. Nowadays, chromosome 1p/19q codeletions in oligodendrogliomas, O-6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-PI3 kinase pathway status in glioblastomas are of clinical relevance because we can choose patients therapy according to these biomarkers. Next future, new drugs with highly complex mechanisms of action will arrive for many patients. In cooperation with this therapeutic arsenal, molecular profiling studies continuously supply information about biological relevance of potential biomarkers of likely clinical interest, including signaling pathways involved in sustained proliferation, disturbances on cell cycle control, genomic instability, promotion of cell migration/invasion and resistance to apoptosis. Furthermore, several proangiogenic factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) , hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1alpha), angiopoietin-1/ 2, platelet derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) or scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor (SF/HGF), are emerging as promising determinants of prognosis. Neuro- oncologists need to be aware about all the potential correlations among new drugs and new biomarkers that will be here in next years. So, this review summarizes relevant biomarkers for future, incoming drugs that will shift neuro-oncology to a new age of clinical results.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: DNA Methylation-Based Biomarkers in Breast Cancer
Authors: F. Javier Carmona ¹ and Jürgen Veeck ²
Affiliations: ¹ Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program (PEBC), Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL), 08907 Barcelona, Spain; E-Mail: fjcarmona@idibell.org (FJC)
² Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, GROW - School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University Medical Center, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands; E-Mail: juergen.veeck@rwth-aachen.de (JV)
Abstract: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. Despite recent drug approvals patient overall survival still remains below five years, demonstrating the need of better diagnosis and treatment strategies. The search for tumor biomarkers has a long history in cancer research, ever aiming at improvements in diagnosis, tumor classification, patient risk stratification or prediction of response to treatment. However, only few biomarkers have emerged to the application in clinical routine. Aberrant DNA methylation in gene promoters is recognized as a hallmark of human cancer. DNA methylation efficiently inactivates transcription of important regulatory genes during all stages of tumor development from malignant cell transformation to metastasis. Due to its cellular consequences similar to genetic lesions, epigenetic gene silencing has been shown to be causally involved in tumorigenesis and progression. A plethora of genes undergoing epigenetic modification have been published in virtually any tumor type, including breast cancer. Importantly, methylation of particular genes appears to be valuable in the clinical setting for they are able to indicate tumors at early stages, distinguish between patient outcomes, or predict clinical response to adjuvant treatment. It is the aim of this review to summarize the recent literature on DNA methylation biomarkers in breast cancer potentially useful in clinical oncology.

Type of Paper: Review
Titel: The Evolution of Biomarkers in Thyroid Cancer – From Mass Screening to a Personalized Biosignature
Authors: Raymon H. Grogan, Elliot J. Mitmaker and Orlo H. Clark
Affiliation: UCSF Division of Endocrine Surgery, 1600 Divisadero St., C-347, Box 1674 San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; E-Mail: orlo.clark@ucsfmedctr.org
Abstract: Thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy of the endocrine system. The diagnosis of thyroid nodules, made by neck examination and ultrasonography, is a common event occurring in over 50% of the patient population over the age of fifty. Yet only 5% of these patients will be diagnosed with cancer. Fine needle aspiration biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosing thyroid nodules. However, 10-15% of these biopsies are inconclusive, ultimately requiring a diagnostic thyroid lobectomy. Consequently, research in thyroid biomarkers has become an area of active interest. In the forty years since calcitonin was first described as the biomarker for medullary thyroid cancer, new biomarkers in thyroid cancer have been discovered. Advances in genomic and proteomic technologies have defined many of these novel thyroid biomarkers. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review of how these biomarkers have evolved from simple screening tests into a complex array of multiple markers to help predict the malignant potential and genetic signature of thyroid neoplasms.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Aberrant Crypt Foci: The Case for Inclusion as a Relevant Biomarker for Colon Cancer
Authors: Michael J. Wargovich, Vondina R. Brown, Kathleen V. Coleman and Jay Morris
Affiliation: Cancer Chemoprevention Program, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 28425 USA; E-Mail: wargovic@musc.edu
Abstract: Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are one of the earliest histopathological manifestations of colon cancer. In this review we critically present the molecular, cellular, histopathological, and chemopreventive evidence that ACF are relevant biomarkers for colon cancer. The laboratory and clinical evidence are highly suggestive that ACF are in the pathway leading to colon cancer, but not all ACF will do so. The possible fate and outcome of ACF in the progression toward colon cancer may be dependent on a number of features that define their predictive power for the prevention or progression of cancer.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Development and Application of Tissue Microarrays for Biomarker Studies
Author: Erin Maresh
Affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; E-Mail: emaresh@mednet.ucla.edu
Abstract: Traditional methods for analyzing large numbers of tissue samples require significant amounts of time, plentiful costly reagents, and highly skilled technicians. The development of tissue microarrays has provided an alternative method, allowing for high-throughput screening and analysis of thousands of samples on a single slide. This has powerful implications for the identification and characterization of biomarkers involved in cancer progression and outcome. In this review, we describe methods of designing and constructing a tissue microarray, as well as techniques for quantifying and analyzing biomarker expression using a tissue microarray.