Vol 3 No 1 (2021)

• Tumor-associated Macrophages(TAMs): An Available Biotarget for Therapeutic of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

  Minni Zhang, Xue Shan, Haifeng Lin, Mingyue Zhu, Mengsen Li

  Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs), as an important immune cell group in tumor microenvironment. TAMs are able to promote the growth, proliferation, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, and regulate the function of immune cells, stimulate generation of cancer stem cells and mediate drug resistance of cancer cells by releasing various cytokines, growth factors and chemokines. According to different activation states and functions, macrophages can be polarized into M1 and M2 phenotypes under different tumor microenvironmental conditions and induced by specific cytokines. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor originating in the liver, HCC has a trait in high recurrence and metastasis. HCC is a disease that seriously endangers human life and health due to the low survival rate. This review comprehensively analyzed the influence of TAMs on the occurrence and development of HCC, and regulation of signaling pathway tansduction in cancer cells mediated by TAMs, explore a new therapeutic strategy for therapeutic of HCC by targeting TAMs.

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• Prognostic Biomarkers in Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma: Where are We Going from Here?

  Gaetano Aurilio, Matteo Santoni, Alessia Cimadamore, Elena Verri, Rodolfo Montironi

  Treatment algorithm in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients has rapidly evolved during the last decade, and determining the prognosis of these patients has become a priority step for correctly planning the treatment. In the present article, we firstly address the most currently used prognostic models and how they have changed the treatment algorithm in routine clinical care; then we assess whether patient selection may be improved in the first-line treatment and the usefulness of a prognostic model following first-line failure; ultimately we culminate in new clinical and molecular prognostic factors under investigation. For this last issue, biomarkers for immunotherapy and angiogenesis inhibitors, as well as biomarkers for liquid analysis and for clinical obesity are presented.

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• Does Liquorice Root, Hawthorn Fruit and Chinese Plum Tea Improve Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer Patients after Primary or Adjuvant Radiotherapy? – A Randomized Double-blind Pilot Study

  Ulana Kotowski, Muhammad Faisal, Yan Ma, Inamaria Erovic, Boban M. Erovic

  Objectives:Radiation induced side effects in head and neck cancers have life changing impact after treatment. We conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine tea in these patients. Methods: A randomized double-blinded pilot study was performed in head and neck cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. The study group received gargles of tea made from liquorice root, hawthorn fruit and Chinese plum. The quality of life was evaluated using the University of Washington Quality of life questionnaire Version 4 (UW-QOL). Results:The intervention group showed marginally significant outcome (p=0.075) in improved saliva production and reduced anxiety. Bitter taste was one of the major reasons for not continuing the trial. Conclusions:The proposed tea seems to provide a promising impact on the quality of life in head and neck cancer patients after adjuvant or primary radiotherapy. However, taste is a major concern and has to be adjusted to reduce patients´ dropout rate. Future trial with large samples are required to declare significant benefits.

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• PVSRIPO, A Potential New Tool in Our Fight against GBM

  Jack Korleski, Hernando Lopez-Bertoni

  GBM is the most common primary malignant brain cancer. Standard of care therapy includes maximum total resection with adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy with temozolomide^[1]. GBM inevitably recurs and options to treat recurrent GBM are limited to resection of bulk tumor surgeries, radiation, and experimental targeted therapies. Despite these treatment options the median survival remains poor at 15 months^[2]. Given the poor prognosis, new therapies are needed to expand the arsenal of treatment options for GBM.

  One area of ongoing interest for cancer management is the use of oncolytic viruses as therapeutic modalities^[3]. This class of viruses specifically target neoplastic cells and can eliminate them by different mechanisms, including induction of cell death via direct cellular toxicity, induction of tumor autoimmunity, or can be engineered to deliver high doses of chemotherapy^[3,4]. In the context of GBM, a number of viruses are being studied for therapeutic development. Many of these include viruses known to target the CNS, such a poliovirus, HSV, measles and adenovirus^[3,4]. Of these, PVSRIPO, a modified poliovirus has shown clinical potential in recent clinical trials^[5,6].

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• New Approaches for T Cell Immunomodulation

  Eman Bahattab, Khalid Shah, Mohannad Fallatah

  Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite the evolution in cancer treatment, the mortality rate is still high. The astonishing results of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients bearing solid tumors have encouraged scientists to develop new strategies for cancer immunotherapy to further improve the clinical outcomes. Immunomodulation for cancer therapy is growing rapidly as a promising alternative approach for conventional cancer therapeutics, due to its specificity and efficacy in suppressing growth and metastasis. However, the complexity of the tumor microenvironment and the various mechanisms whereby tumor cells escape the immune response diminishes the efficacy of many cancer immunotherapeutic drugs, especially when the drug is administered as monotherapy. Some of these factors include poor immune recognition of tumor cells, lack of sufficient drug concentration within the tumor site, and suppression of tumor-reactive T cell proliferation and effector functions. This review describes some of the novel immunomodulation strategies that have been recently developed to overcome these limitations and to augment strong antitumor immune response against different tumor types. For example, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), CAR- T cells, Bi-specific T-cell engagers (BiTE) antibody, oncolytic viruses (OVs), cytokine-antibody fusion protein, genetically engineered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), oncolytic virotherapy, gut microbiota modulation and nanoparticles mediated cancer therapy. These novel strategies have been proven to augment strong antitumor immune response against different tumor types, reduced toxicity, as well as generated long-lived memory T cell population that was able to protect the host from tumor relapse. Combination therapies either with conventional or immunotherapy further improved the efficacy of cancer treatment.

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• Gut Microbiota: The Servant of Human Being and the Accessary of Tumorigenesis

  Pan Gu, Di Li, Gang Xu, Yingnan Sun, Minghua Wu

  Gut microbiome affects multiple facets of human health and is inextricably linked to tumorigenesis. Substantial research has aimed to understand how gut microbiome functions in the homeostasis of our body. This review explores the evidence demonstrating how the gut microbiome may affect body health, thereby having an impact on metabolism, protection, nutrition and some anatomical-functional relationship. Alterations in gut microbiota composition have been associated with plenty disorders. Of interest, majority of researches demonstrate the role of microbiota in cancer. However, they haven’t been classified systematically. We divided them into tumor in situ, gut-biliary tract cancer axis, gut-breast cancer axis, gut-haematopoiesis cancer axis and gut-brain cancer axis. In addition, we introduce the latest method in diagnosis and treatment of related cancer.

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