No abstract

This information sheds light on the possible role of lncRNA-UCA1 and C-JUN mRNA as promising diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as potential therapeutic targets in HCC.

We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of delivering intraperitoneal chemotherapy and cytoreductive surgery for peritoneal metastases coupled with curative treatment of colorectal liver metastases. Areas covered: A comprehensive literature search using PubMed was conducted to screen for eligible records. Studies evaluating colorectal surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy combined with curative treatment of liver metastases were included. We excluded duplicate publications. Sixty-seven full-text papers were assessed and six papers were finally included. The overall survival in the included studies ranged from 6-49 months. Five-year survival ranged from 18%-28%, three-year survival ranged from 22%-42% and two-year survival ranged from 34%-78%. Survival was lower in patients with liver metastases and peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) than those with PC alone in the majority of studies. Expert commentary: This review poses questions rather than presenting answers. The heterogeneity of survival data suggests the possible benefit of this aggressive treatment approach in selected patients. Standardization of the technique used for intraperitoneal chemotherapy instillation, agent used as well as the systemic chemotherapy and targeted therapy type and duration through prospective controlled trials is required to provide an evidence of a higher strength to support or prohibit this treatment strategy.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a global health problem and a major cause of cancer-related death with high recurrence rates ranging from 25% to 40% for GC patients staging II-IV. Unfortunately, while the majority of GC patients usually present with advanced tumor stage; there is still limited evidence-based therapeutic options. Current approach to GC management consists mainly of; endoscopy followed by, gastrectomy and chemotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy. Recent studies in GC have confirmed that it is a heterogeneous disease. Many molecular characterization studies have been performed in GC. Recent discoveries of the molecular pathways underlying the disease have opened the door to more personalized treatment and better predictable outcome. The identification of molecular markers is a useful tool for clinical managementin GC patients, assisting in diagnosis, evaluation of response to treatment and development of novel therapeutic modalities. While chemotherapeutic agents have certain physiological effects on the tumor cells, the prediction of the response is different from one type of tumor to the other. The specificity of molecular biomarkers is a principal feature driving their application in anticancer therapies. Here we are trying to focus on the role of molecular pathways of GC and well-established molecular markers that can guide the therapeutic management.

Our data are the first report of its kind regarding the considerable clinical significance of miR-661 and ATG-4B mRNA in HCC patients.