Radiotherapy cancer biomarkers

BACKGROUND: Uterine corpus endometrial cancer (UCEC) exhibit heterogeneity in their DNA repair capacity, which can impact their response to radiotherapy. Our study aimed to identify potential DNA repair-related biomarkers for predicting radiation response in UCEC. METHODS: We conducted a thorough analysis of 497 UCEC samples obtained from TCGA database. Using LASSO-COX regression analysis, we constructed a radiosensitivity signature and subsequently divided patients into the radiosensitive (RS) and the radioresistant (RR) groups based on their radiosensitivity index...

BACKGROUND: Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a type of regulated cell death that is capable of initiating an adaptive immune response. Induction of ICD may be a potential treatment strategy, as it has been demonstrated to activate the tumor-specific immune response. AIMS: The biomarkers of ICD and their relationships with the tumor microenvironment, clinical features, and immunotherapy response are not fully understood in a clinical context. Therefore, we conducted pan-cancer analyses of ICD gene signatures across 33 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas database...

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer, the second most common cancer, presents persistently dismal prognoses. Radiomics, a promising field, aims to provide novel imaging biomarkers to improve outcomes. However, clinical translation faces reproducibility challenges, despite efforts to address them with quality scoring tools. OBJECTIVE: This study had two objectives: 1) identify radiomics biomarkers in post-radiotherapy stage III/IV nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, 2) evaluate research quality using the CLEAR (CheckList_for_EvaluAtion_of_Radiomics_research), RQS (Radiomics_Quality_Score) frameworks, and formulate an amalgamated CLEAR-RQS tool to enhance scientific rigor...

MiRNAs (microRNAs) constitute a group of diminutive molecules of non-coding RNA intricately involved in regulating gene expression. This regulation is primarily accomplished through the binding of miRNAs to complementary sequences situated in the 3'-UTR of the messenger RNA (mRNA) target; as a result, they are degraded or repressed. The multifaceted biogenesis of miRNAs is characterized by a meticulously orchestrated sequence of events encompassing transcription, processing, transportation, and decay. Colorectal cancer stands as a pervasive and formidable ailment, afflicting millions across the globe...

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a significant global health burden, and individualized treatment approaches are necessary due to its heterogeneity. Radiotherapy is a common treatment modality; however, the response varies among patients. The identification of reliable biomarkers to predict radiotherapy sensitivity is crucial. METHODS: A cohort of 189 patients with stage IB2-IVA cervical cancer, treated with radiotherapy alone or concurrent chemoradiotherapy, was included...

The role of YTHDF2 in gastric cancer (GC) is controversial. Due to the limitations of technical difficulty and experimental period, research on completely knocking out YTHDF2 is rare. Therefore, further investigations are still needed to clarify the YTHDF2's clinical significance and biological function in GC. To carry out the investigation, an analysis was performed on the expression levels of YTHDF2 in both publicly available databases and samples obtained from patients with gastric cancer. Based on the complete knockout of YTHDF2 using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, in vivo and in vitro experiments were conducted to analyze the effects of YTHDF2 on tumor formation, radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy resistance in GC...

Due to major advances in the field of radiation oncology, patients with lung cancer (LC) can now receive technically individualised radiotherapy treatments. However, in the era of precision oncology, radiotherapy-based treatment selection needs to be improved as many patients do not benefit or are not offered optimum therapies. Cost-effective robust biomarkers can address this knowledge gap and lead to individuals being offered more bespoke treatments leading to improved outcome. This narrative review discusses some of the current achievements and challenges in the realisation of personalised radiotherapy delivery in patients with LC...

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) lacks established biomarkers or molecular targets for predicting or enhancing radiation response. Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate-dependent Rac exchange factor 2 (PREX2) exhibits intricate implications in tumorigenesis and progression. Nevertheless, the precise role and underlying mechanisms of PREX2 in CRC radioresistance remain unclear. METHODS: RNA-seq was employed to identify differentially expressed genes between radioresistant CRC cell lines and their parental counterparts...

Cervical cancer (CC) constitutes a serious public health problem. Vaccination and screening programs have notably reduced the incidence of CC worldwide by >80%; however, the mortality rate in low‑income countries remains high. The staging of CC is a determining factor in therapeutic strategies: The clinical management of early stages of CC includes surgery and/or radiotherapy, whereas radiotherapy and/or concurrent chemotherapy are the recommended therapeutic strategies for locally advanced CC. The histopathological characteristics of tumors can effectively serve as prognostic markers of radiotherapy response; however, the efficacy rate of radiotherapy may significantly differ among cancer patients...

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most prevalent type of brain tumour; although advancements in treatment have been made, the median survival time for GBM patients has persisted at 15 months. This study is aimed at investigating the genetic alterations and clinical features of GBM patients to find predictors of survival. GBM patients' methylation and gene expression data along with clinical information from TCGA were retrieved. The most overrepresented pathways were identified independently for each omics dataset...

AIMS: Although radiotherapy is a core treatment modality for various human cancers, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), its clinical effects are often limited by radioresistance. The specific molecular mechanisms underlying radioresistance are largely unknown, and the reduction of radioresistance is an unresolved challenge in GBM research. METHODS: We analyzed and verified the expression of nuclear autoantigenic sperm protein (NASP) in gliomas and its relationship with patient prognosis...

BACKGROUND: While surgical resection remains the primary treatment approach for symptomatic or growing meningiomas, radiotherapy represents an auspicious alternative in patients with meningiomas not safely amenable to surgery. Biopsies are often omitted in light of potential postoperative neurological deficits, resulting in a lack of histological grading and (molecular) risk stratification. In this prospective explorative biomarker study, extracellular vesicles in the bloodstream will be investigated in patients with macroscopic meningiomas to identify a biomarker for molecular risk stratification and disease monitoring...

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients is poor, and the standard first-line treatment for limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) is still chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy. The primary objectives of our study were to confirm the superior efficacy of first-line immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) plus etoposide and platinum (EP) for LS-SCLC and find crucial biomarkers. METHODS: We analyzed LS-SCLC patients from three medical centers, employing propensity score matching for group comparability...

BACKGROUND: One of the most common causes of lung cancer relapse after clinical treatment is radioresistance. However, the mechanism underlying radioresistance remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of Ras p21 protein activator (RASA2) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The messenger RNA (mRNA) of RASA2 was tested via reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) of cancer tissues from patients with NSCLC. Computed tomography (CT) and bioluminescent imaging (BLI) were used to monitor the tumor growth of patients and orthotopic mice, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS), have significant inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity, with poor response to standard neoadjuvant radiotherapy (RT). Achieving a favorable pathologic response (FPR ≥ 95%) from RT is associated with improved patient outcome. Genomic adjusted radiation dose (GARD), a radiation-specific metric that quantifies the expected RT treatment effect as a function of tumor dose and genomics, proposed that STS is significantly underdosed...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review aims to explore the evolving landscape of treatments available for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC) patients. RECENT FINDINGS: In less than a decade, evidence was chronologically provided that (1) systemic treatment intensification with docetaxel improves outcomes, including survival, in men with mCSPC, (2) then that these outcomes are also improved when a second-generation androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) is combined with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and (3) using a "triplet systemic therapy," which consists in the combination of ADT, an ARPI and docetaxel, further improves outcomes, including survival...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between radiotherapy (RT) and cardiac biomarkers in women with left-sided breast cancer. METHODS: This prospective observational study recruited patients with stage I-III left-sided breast cancer without coronary heart disease who required adjuvant RT. High-sensitivity troponin I(hsTnI), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hsCRP) levels were measured pre-RT, immediately after RT, and 3 months post-RT...

Personalized, ultra-fractionated stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy (PULSAR) is designed to administer tumoricidal doses in a pulsed mode with extended intervals, spanning weeks or months. This approach leverages longer intervals to adapt the treatment plan based on tumor changes and enhance immune-modulated effects. In this investigation, we seek to elucidate the potential synergy between combined PULSAR and PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy using experimental data from a Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) syngeneic murine cancer model...

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with a 5-year survival rate of only 28%, however, when caught at an early stage, it can be cured with surgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Unfortunately, racial disparities may result in limited access to care for some patients. Liu et al. analyzed 64,999 cases of early-stage NSCLC treated between 2005 and 2017 from the Florida cancer registry and showed that Black patients had 36% lower odds of receiving curative-intent surgery compared to their White counterparts...

AT-rich interaction domain protein 1A (ARID1A), a SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex subunit, is frequently mutated across various cancer entities. Loss of ARID1A leads to DNA repair defects. Here, we show that ARID1A plays epigenetic roles to promote both DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) repair pathways, non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). ARID1A is accumulated at DSBs after DNA damage and regulates chromatin loops formation by recruiting RAD21 and CTCF to DSBs. Simultaneously, ARID1A facilitates transcription silencing at DSBs in transcriptionally active chromatin by recruiting HDAC1 and RSF1 to control the distribution of activating histone marks, chromatin accessibility, and eviction of RNAPII...