Inflammation and Gastrointestinal Cancers: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapies 1.0

Dear Colleagues, 

Many epidemiologic and molecular studies showed that chronic inflammation is an independent risk factor for the development of gastrointestinal cancers (e.g., chronic gastritis for gastric cancer, chronic hepatitis for liver cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases for colorectal cancer). Moreover, the infiltration of immune/inflammatory cells is known to occur in all the stages of gastrointestinal carcinogenesis and to play a major role in such a process. Although inflammatory cell-derived cytokines/factors can either directly or indirectly promote cancer cell growth and invasion, under specific inflammatory conditions, immune cells can mediate antitumor responses with the downstream effect of eliminating dysplastic and cancerous cells. The specific nature of the inflammatory response and the tissue context may thus determine the beneficial versus the detrimental effects of inflammation in both tumor initiation and progression. 

Despite recent scientific advances, the molecular and cellular pathways connecting inflammation and cancer are still being uncovered. A better understanding of this liaison may definitely improve our knowledge about cancer cell biology and offer opportunities for the design of new therapeutic interventions. 

In this Special Issue, we invite investigators working on inflammation and gastrointestinal cancers to submit original papers or reviews to shed further light on this complex field. Potential topics include but are not limited to: 

- Mechanistic studies on esophageal, liver, pancreatic, gastric, and colorectal carcinogenesis; 

- Role of epigenetic alterations in gastrointestinal cancers; 

- Effects of dietary and/or lifestyle changes on gastrointestinal inflammation and tumorigenesis; 

- Effects of the microbiota on inflammation, carcinogenesis, and cancer therapy; 

- Role of inflammatory cell-derived factors on cancer immunosurveillance and immunoediting; 

- Therapeutic strategies and novel clinical approaches for gastrointestinal cancers (e.g., chemotherapeutics, immunotherapy, natural compounds, drug repositioning, precision medicine); 

- Prognostic and predictive biomarkers reflecting qualitative and quantitative disease activity, progression of cancer, and prediction of the outcome of the treatment.

Dr. Carmine Stolfi
Dr. Federica Laudisi
Guest Editors

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