Novel Therapeutics and Prognostications in Gastrointestinal Cancer

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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and leads to a number of cancer-related cases of morbidity and mortality. GI cancer is heterogeneous, involving a wide range of organs including the esophagus, stomach, hepatobiliary system, pancreas, small and large intestines, rectum, and anus. It is also quite diverse as regards its histological types, which consist mainly of adenocarcinoma, followed by neuroendocrine tumor, sarcoma, and hematopoietic neoplasms. The etiology is also quite diverse. For example, gastroesophageal reflux disease, Helicobacter pylori, inflammatory bowel disease, and hepatitis B or C virus infection are associated with the development of esophageal, gastric, intestinal, and liver cancers, respectively. Of note, a certain number of GI cancers can be inherited. It is also worth noting that GI cancer is often diagnosed in an advanced stage. For those, traditional chemotherapy may benefit patient outcome, but survival remains poor. Recently, various targeted therapies have been developed based on an increased understanding of the molecular features and immunogenicity of GI cancers, and remarkable survival benefits in certain subsets of patients have been archived. Accordingly, systemic identification and validation of novel therapeutics and prognostic models and biomarkers would most likely be beneficial for patients.

With this concept, the aim of this Special Issue is to collect manuscripts associated with the following points to allow the delivery of precision oncology in GI cancers:

Prognostic patterns/models (either statistics or biomedical) for GI cancers;
Novel biomarkers carrying either therapeutic or prognostic values for GI cancers;
Novel agents or novel strategies for the treatment of GI cancers, either in vitro or in vivo.

Prof. Dr. Chien-Feng Li
Guest Editor

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. Gastroenterology Insights 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 1600 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

gastrointestinal cancers
molecular
pathogenesis
prognosis
therapy
theragnostic

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 505 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Modified eCura System for Identifying High-Risk Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Early Gastric Cancer Resected by Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection

by Kazuhiro Nagao, Masahide Ebi, Takaya Shimura, Tomonori Yamada, Yoshikazu Hirata, Tomohiro Iwai, Takanori Ozeki, Wataru Ohashi, Tomoya Sugiyama, Yoshiharu Yamaguchi, Kazunori Adachi, Shinya Izawa, Yasushi Funaki, Naotaka Ogasawara, Makoto Sasaki, Hiromi Kataoka and Kunio Kasugai

Gastroenterol. Insights 2022, 13(1), 60-67; https://doi.org/10.3390/gastroent13010007 - 14 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3132

Abstract

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is widely used for early gastric cancer (EGC) in patients without lymph node metastasis (LNM). Prediction of LNM after ESD is important to determine prognosis in patients with EGC. In this regard, the eCura system was applied to predict LNM after noncurative ESD for EGC. This study aimed to identify risk factors for LNM and improve the accuracy of the eCura system for predicting the risk of LNM after ESD. Methods: A total of 150 patients who underwent noncurative resection of EGC by ESD were retrospectively enrolled at five institutions in Japan. All patients underwent additional surgery with lymph node resection after ESD. The risk factors for LNM among clinicopathological parameters were examined and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was used to determine the optimal cutoff point for predicting high LNM risk using the modified eCura system. Results: Of 150 patients, 19 (13%) had LNM. In the multivariate analysis, lymphatic invasion, and tumor size >30 mm were independent risk factors for LNM. Using a cutoff score of ≥4 for predicting high risk based on the eCura system, the rate of LNM was significantly higher in the high-risk group (4–7 points) than in the low-risk group (0–3 points) (odds ratio 12.0, 95% confidence interval 3.7–54.2, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: An eCura score ≥4 may improve the prediction of LNM risk after ESD in patients with EGC in the intermediate-risk group (2–4 points) of the eCura system, suggesting better treatment strategies for patients. Further prospective and long-term follow-up studies are needed to validate the efficacy of the modified system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Therapeutics and Prognostications in Gastrointestinal Cancer)

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6 pages, 1544 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

Gastroparesis, Thymoma, and Asymptomatic Myasthenia: A Rare Clinical Scenario

by Consuelo Tamburella, Silvana Parisi, Sara Lillo, Giacomo Ferrantelli, Paola Critelli, Anna Viola, Angelo Platania, Maria Santoro, Alberto Cacciola, Anna Santacaterina and Gianluca Ferini

Gastroenterol. Insights 2022, 13(1), 27-32; https://doi.org/10.3390/gastroent13010004 - 15 Jan 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3910

Abstract

Background: Paraneoplastic gastroparesis is a gastrointestinal syndrome that rarely precedes a tumor diagnosis. To increase awareness of this rare clinical entity, we present a case of severe gastroparesis, which was later proven to be associated with a thymoma. Case report: A 55-year old man had the sudden onset of severe abdominal cramps and abdominal distension, early satiety with postprandial nausea, acid regurgitation, belching, and flatulence. He lost about 20 pounds. The physical and imaging examination revealed stomach distension, gastroparesis, and the presence of a solid mass in the anterior mediastinum. Radical surgery was performed to remove the thymoma and, given the high value of Mib-1, the patient was submitted to postoperative chest radiation therapy. After thymectomy, a diagnosis of paraneoplastic myasthenia gravis with subacute autonomic failure was made. Conclusion: Autoimmune gastroparesis should be considered as a potential paraneoplastic syndrome in patients with thymoma, myasthenia gravis, and delayed gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical obstruction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Therapeutics and Prognostications in Gastrointestinal Cancer)

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