Extracellular vesicles are known as actual intermediaries of intercellular communications, such as biological signals and cargo transfer between different cells. A variety of cells release the exosomes as nanovesicular bodies. Exosomes contain different compounds such as several types of nucleic acids and proteins. In this study, we focused on exosomes in colorectal cancer as good tools that can be involved in various cancer‐related processes. Furthermore, we summarize the advantages and disadvantages of exosome extraction methods and review related studies on the role of exosomes in colorectal cancer. Finally, we focus on reports available on relations between mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosomes and colorectal cancer. Several cancer‐related processes such as cancer progression, metastasis, and drug resistance of colorectal cancer are related to the cargoes of exosomes. A variety of molecules, especially proteins, microRNAs, and long noncoding RNAs, play important roles in these processes. The microenvironment features, such as hypoxia, also have very important effects on the properties of the origin cell–derived exosomes. On the other hand, exosomes derived from colorectal cancer cells also interfere with cancer chemoresistance. Furthermore, today it is known that exosomes and their contents can likely be very effective in noninvasive colorectal cancer diagnosis and therapy. Thus, exosomes, and especially their cargoes, play different key roles in various aspects of basic and clinical research related to both progression and therapy of colorectal cancer.

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We found that RAB6C-AS1 lncRNA is mostly overexpressed in GC. Also, based on bioinformatic and systems biology analyses, RAB6C-AS1 might function either as an oncogenic factor or tumor suppressor in a tissue-specific manner. Thus, RAB6C-AS1 could be considered as a candidate biomarker for various malignancies, especially prostate and brain cancers. According to our results, RAB6C-AS1 has a notable prognostic value for patients with brain lower grade glioma.

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Although surgery with or without (neo)adjuvant chemo/radiotherapy, as the standard treatments, can be suitable therapeutic strategies for gastric cancer, side effects and drug resistance are two main treatment obstacles. It has been discovered that pomegranate and its natural derivatives, especially ellagic acid (EA), offer significant anti-cancer effects while causing trivial side effects. In this study, we aimed to explore the anti-cancer effects of EA on a human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS) as well as in immunocompromised mice bearing human gastric tumors, for the first time. HPLC was used for determining EA in samples. MTT assay, apoptosis and scratch assay, gelatin zymography, and quantitative RT-PCR were used to determine the anti-cancer properties of different concentrations of pomegranate fruit juice, pomegranate peel extract, and EA. Furthermore, the effects of these compounds were investigated on immunosuppressed C57BL/6 mice carrying human gastric cancer tumors. EA could inhibit the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells. It also had significant effects on reducing both expression and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Further, it was demonstrated that with alterations in the expression of genes involved in apoptosis and inflammation including P53, BAX, APAF1, BCL2, iNOS, NF-κB, IL-8, and TNF-α, EA treatment led to increased cancer cell death and reduced inflammation. Furthermore, its use in mice bearing gastric tumors resulted in a significant reduction in tumor volume without any obvious side effects. Ellagic acid exhibited anti-cancer effects on gastric adenocarcinoma, and can be considered as a safe anti-cancer agent for further preclinical studies on this cancer.

Digestive system cancers are listed among the ten top causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are malignant cells that share some of their characteristics with normal stem cells, including self-renewal and multipotency, and also cancer cells, such as drug resistance and metastasis. Despite many reports on CSCs with digestive system origin, identification and characterization of esophageal CSCs have remained elusive. To examine the validity of routine SC, cancer cell and CSC markers in KYSE30 cells, derived from esophageal carcinoma, cells were first characterized by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR techniques, and then the significance of candidate biomarkers was evaluated in retinoic acid-treated cells by flow cytometry and/or real-time RT-PCR. Meanwhile, to study CD15 (a newly introduced CSC marker) expression in digestive tract cancers, human normal and tumoral tissues of esophagus, stomach, and colon were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Using several experimental approaches, we show that CD44, but not CD15, could serve as a reliable marker for undifferentiated malignant squamous cells of esophagus. In conclusion, our study confirms the role of CD44 as a CSC marker in KYSE30 cells, an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line, and for the first time indicates the expression of CD15 in non-neural stem-like cancer cells. Although the importance of CD15 was not indicated in diagnosis of digestive cancers, further studies are needed to better understand the biological identity and function of this molecule in non-neural malignancies.

The present results are in line with other studies and indicate SOX2 up-regulation in ESCC; however, due to our small sample size and contradictory reports, more research is needed to determine the importance of SOX2 in GI cancers.