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Xue Y, Huang C, Pei B, Wang Z, Dai Y. An overview of DNA methylation markers for early detection of gastric cancer: current status, challenges, and prospects. Front Genet 2023; 14:1234645. [PMID: 37560387 PMCID: PMC10407555 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1234645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies, with a low 5-year survival rate. However, if diagnosed at an early stage, it can be cured by endoscopic treatment and has a good prognosis. While gastrointestinal X-ray and upper endoscopy are used as national GC screening methods in some GC high-risk countries, such as Japan and Korea, their radiation exposure, invasiveness, and high cost suggest that they are not the optimal tools for early detection of GC in many countries. Therefore, a cost-effective, and highly accurate method for GC early detection is urgently needed in clinical settings. DNA methylation plays a key role in cancer progression and metastasis and has been demonstrated as a promising marker for cancer early detection. Aims and methods: This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of DNA methylation markers associated with GC, the assays developed for GC early detection, challenges in methylation marker discovery and application, and the future prospects of utilizing methylation markers for early detection of GC. Through our analysis, we found that the currently reported DNA methylation markers related to GC are mainly in the early discovery stage. Most of them have only been evaluated in tissue samples. The majority of non-invasive assays developed based on blood lack standardized sampling protocols, pre-analytical procedures, and multicenter validation, and they exhibit insufficient sensitivity for early-stage GC detection. Meanwhile, the reported GC DNA methylation markers are generally considered pan-cancer markers. Conclusion: Therefore, future endeavors should focus on identifying additional methylation markers specific to GC and establishing non-invasive diagnostic assays that rely on these markers. These assays should undergo multicenter, large-scale prospective validation in diverse populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Xue
- The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China
| | - Chao Huang
- The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China
| | - Bing Pei
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Suqian First People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suqian, Jiangsu, China
| | - ZhenZhen Wang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Xuzhou Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Yanmiao Dai
- Department of Spleen and Stomach Diseases, Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunshan, China
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Guo R, Li J, Hu J, Fu Q, Yan Y, Xu S, Wang X, Jiao F. Combination of epidrugs with immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer immunotherapy: From theory to therapy. Int Immunopharmacol 2023; 120:110417. [PMID: 37276826 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 05/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Immunotherapy based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has revolutionized treatment strategies in multiple types of cancer. However, the resistance and relapse as associated with the extreme complexity of cancer-immunity interactions remain a major challenge to be resolved. Owing to the epigenome plasticity of cancer and immune cells, a growing body of evidence has been presented indicating that epigenetic treatments have the potential to overcome current limitations of immunotherapy, thus providing a rationalefor the combination of ICIs with epigenetic agents (epidrugs). In this review, we first make an overview about the epigenetic regulations in tumor biology and immunodevelopment. Subsequently, a diverse array of inhibitory agents under investigations targeted epigenetic modulators (Azacitidine, Decitabine, Vorinostat, Romidepsin, Belinostat, Panobinostat, Tazemetostat, Enasidenib and Ivosidenib, etc.) and immune checkpoints (Atezolizmab, Avelumab, Cemiplimab, Durvalumb, Ipilimumab, Nivolumab and Pembrolizmab, etc.) to increase anticancer responses were described and the potential mechanisms were further discussed. Finally, we summarize the findings of clinical trials and provide a perspective for future clinical studies directed at investigating the combination of epidrugs with ICIs as a treatment for cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruoyu Guo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, PR China
| | - Jixia Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Yantaishan Hospital, Yantai 264003, PR China
| | - Jinxia Hu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, PR China
| | - Qiang Fu
- School of Pharmacology, Institute of Aging Medicine, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, PR China
| | - Yunfei Yan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, PR China
| | - Sen Xu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, PR China
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory & Health Service Training, 970 Hospital of the PLA Joint Logistic Support Force, Yantai 264002, PR China.
| | - Fei Jiao
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, PR China.
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Liu X, Xie F, Ding J, Li S, Li J. Systematic pan-cancer analysis identifies gasdermin B as an immunological and prognostic biomarker for kidney renal clear cell carcinoma. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1164214. [PMID: 37064151 PMCID: PMC10101337 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1164214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Gasdermin (GSDM)-mediated cell lytic death plays an essential role in immunity and tumorigenesis. Despite the association of gasdermin B (GSDMB) with the tumorigenesis of various cancers, whether GSDMB functions as a prognostic biomarker in renal cell carcinoma remains poorly understood. Here, we explored the potential immunological functions and the prognostic value of GSDMB across multiple tumors with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases, including analyzing the relationship between GSDMB expression and prognosis, tumor–immune system interactions, immunomodulators, and immune cell infiltration of different tumors. Importantly, elevated expression of GSDMB is an essential factor for the poor prognosis of kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) patients, suggesting that it might be helpful to predict a survival benefit from a clinical therapy regimen. Furthermore, GSDMB expression promoted the level of CD4+ T-cell infiltration of the tumors but is significantly negatively associated with immature dendritic cells (iDCs) in KIRC. Additionally, we identified TNFRSF25 and TNFSF14 as immunostimulators highly correlated with GSDMB expression. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analyses showed that GSDMB and its interacting proteins might affect tumor growth through the serine metabolism pathway. Our current results demonstrate a promising therapeutic strategy targeting GSDMB and provide new insights into GSDMB as an immunological and prognostic biomarker for KIRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuehe Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences and Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Industrial Microorganisms, MOE Engineering Research Center of Gene Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Feiyan Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences and Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Industrial Microorganisms, MOE Engineering Research Center of Gene Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jin Ding
- Clinical Cancer Institute, Center for Translational Medicine, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Suhua Li
- Division of Natural Science, Duke Kunshan University, Jiangsu, China
- *Correspondence: Jixi Li, ; Suhua Li,
| | - Jixi Li
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences and Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Industrial Microorganisms, MOE Engineering Research Center of Gene Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Clinical Cancer Institute, Center for Translational Medicine, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Jixi Li, ; Suhua Li,
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Feng M, Xu H, Zhou W, Pan Y. The BRD4 inhibitor JQ1 augments the antitumor efficacy of abemaciclib in preclinical models of gastric carcinoma. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH : CR 2023; 42:44. [PMID: 36755269 PMCID: PMC9909925 DOI: 10.1186/s13046-023-02615-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Advanced gastric cancer (GC) is a lethal malignancy, harboring recurrent alterations in cell cycle pathway, especially the CDKN2A-CDK4/CDK6/CCND1 axis. However, monotherapy of CDK4/6 inhibitors has shown limited antitumor effects for GC, and combination treatments were urgently needed for CDK4/6 inhibitors. METHODS Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis, including drug screening, pan-cancer genomic dependency analysis, and epigenetic sequencing to identify the candidate combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors. Mechanisms were investigated by bulk RNA-sequencing and experimental validation was conducted on diverse in vitro or in vivo preclinical GC models. RESULTS We found that the BRD4 inhibitor JQ1 augments the antitumor efficacy of the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (ABE). Diverse in vitro and in vivo preclinical GC models are examined and synergistic benefits from the combination therapy are obtained consistently. Mechanistically, the combination of ABE and JQ1 enhances the cell cycle arrest of GC cells and induces unique characteristics of cellular senescence through the induction of DNA damage, which is revealed by transcriptomic profiling and further validated by substantial in vitro and in vivo GC models. CONCLUSION This study thus proposes a candidate combination therapy of ABE and JQ1 to improve the therapeutic efficacy and worth further investigation in clinical trials for GC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei Feng
- grid.11135.370000 0001 2256 9319Division of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Peking University, No. 8 Xi Shiku Street, Beijing, 100034 China
| | - Hao Xu
- grid.11135.370000 0001 2256 9319Division of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Peking University, No. 8 Xi Shiku Street, Beijing, 100034 China
| | - Wenyuan Zhou
- grid.412474.00000 0001 0027 0586NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Radiopharmaceuticals (National Medical Products Administration), Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, 100142 China
| | - Yisheng Pan
- Division of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Peking University, No. 8 Xi Shiku Street, Beijing, 100034, China.
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