Search results for "TUMOR PROGRESSION"
showing 10 items of 213 documents
MET/HGF Co-Targeting in Pancreatic Cancer: A Tool to Provide Insight into the Tumor/Stroma Crosstalk
2018
The ‘onco-receptor’ MET (Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor) is involved in the activation of the invasive growth program that is essential during embryonic development and critical for wound healing and organ regeneration during adult life. When aberrantly activated, MET and its stroma-secreted ligand HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) concur to tumor onset, progression, and metastasis in solid tumors, thus representing a relevant target for cancer precision medicine. In the vast majority of tumors, wild-type MET behaves as a ‘stress-response’ gene, and relies on ligand stimulation to sustain cancer cell ‘scattering’, invasion, and protection form apoptosis. …
Macrophage Factor Xa Signaling Promotes Cancer Immune Evasion
2018
Abstract Coagulation signaling through protease activated receptors (PARs) participates in inflammation and immunity. In cancer, tissue factor (TF) driven signaling via PAR2 promotes tumor progression, but effective pharmacological strategies to inhibit the PAR2 activating proteases for clinical anti-cancer benefit are currently unknown. To gain a better understanding of signaling by coagulation proteases, we generated PAR2 mouse strains with mutations that abolish canonical proteolysis by all proteases including FVIIa (PAR2 R38E) or create specific resistance to cleavage by the TF-FVIIa-Xa signaling complex (PAR2 G37I) that requires the endothelial cell protein C receptor (EPCR, Procr). As…
C3 Drives Inflammatory Skin Carcinogenesis Independently of C5
2021
Nonmelanoma skin cancer such as cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the most common form of cancer and can occur as a consequence of DNA damage to the epithelium by UVR or chemical carcinogens. There is growing evidence that the complement system is involved in cancer immune surveillance; however, its role in cSCC remains unclear. Here, we show that complement genes are expressed in tissue from patients with cSCC, and C3 activation fragments are present in cSCC biopsies, indicating complement activation. Using a range of complement-deficient mice in a two-stage mouse model of chemically-induced cSCC, where a subclinical dose of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene causes oncogenic mutatio…
Distinctive features of tumor-infiltrating γδ T lymphocytes in human colorectal cancer.
2017
γδ T cells usually infiltrate many different types of cancer, but it is unclear whether they inhibit or promote tumor progression. Moreover, properties of tumor-infiltrating γδ T cells and those in the corresponding normal tissue remain largely unknown. Here we have studied features of γδ T cells in colorectal cancer, normal colon tissue and peripheral blood, and correlated their levels with clinicopathologic hallmarks. Flow cytometry and transcriptome analyses showed that the tumor comprised a highly variable rate of TILs (5–90%) and 4% γδ T cells on average, with the majority expressing Vδ1. Most Vδ1 and Vδ2 T cells showed a predominant effector memory phenotype and had reduced production…
Exosome-Mediated Signaling in Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition and Tumor Progression
2018
Growing evidence points to exosomes as key mediators of cell–cell communication, by transferring their specific cargo (e.g., proteins, lipids, DNA and RNA molecules) from producing to receiving cells. In cancer, the regulation of the exosome-mediated intercellular communication may be reshaped, inducing relevant changes in gene expression of recipient cells in addition to microenvironment alterations. Notably, exosomes may deliver signals able to induce the transdifferentiation process known as Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). In this review, we summarize recent findings on the role of exosomes in tumor progression and EMT, highlighting current knowledge on exosome-mediated inter…
Protein kinase inhibitor-based cancer therapies: Considering the potential of nitric oxide (NO) to improve cancer treatment.
2020
The deregulation of a wide variety of protein kinases is associated with cancer cell initiation and tumor progression. Owing to their indispensable function in signaling pathways driving malignant cell features, protein kinases constitute major therapeutic targets in cancer. Over the past two decades, intense efforts in drug development have been dedicated to this field. The development of protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) have been a real breakthrough in targeted cancer therapy. Despite obvious successes across patients with different types of cancer, the development of PKI resistance still prevails. Combination therapies are part of a comprehensive approach to address the problem of drug r…
Dietary restriction: could it be considered as speed bump on tumor progression road?
2016
Dietary restrictions, including fasting (or long-term starvation), calorie restriction (CR), and short-term starvation (STS), are considered a strong rationale that may protect against various diseases, including age-related diseases and cancer. Among dietary approaches, STS, in which food is not consumed during designed fasting periods but is typically not restricted during designated feeding periods, seems to be more suitable, because other dietary regimens involving prolonged fasting periods could worsen the health conditions of cancer patients, being they already naturally prone to weight loss. Until now, the limited amount of available data does not point to a single gene, pathway, or …
Tissue microenvironment dictates the fate and tumor-suppressive function of type 3 ILCs
2017
Nussbaum et al. found that tumor suppression through innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) cannot be predicted solely based on the ILC phenotype and lineage but that their immune properties are shaped both by their ontogeny and by the tissue microenvironment they reside in.
Advanced mechanotherapy: Biotensegrity for governing metastatic tumor cell fate via modulating the extracellular matrix.
2021
Mechano-transduction is the procedure of mechanical stimulus translation via cells, among substrate shear flow, topography, and stiffness into a biochemical answer. TAZ and YAP are transcriptional coactivators which are recognized as relay proteins that promote mechano-transduction within the Hippo pathway. With regard to healthy cells in homeostasis, mechano-transduction regularly restricts proliferation, and TAZ and YAP are totally inactive. During cancer development a YAP/TAZ - stimulating positive response loop is formed between the growing tumor and the stiffening ECM. As tumor developments, local stromal and cancerous cells take advantage of mechanotransduction to enhance proliferatio…
The Intention-to-Treat Effect of Bridging Treatments in the Setting of Milan Criteria–In Patients Waiting for Liver Transplantation
2019
In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) meeting the Milan criteria (MC), the benefit of locoregional therapies (LRTs) in the context of liver transplantation (LT) is still debated. Initial biases in the selection between treated and untreated patients have yielded conflicting reported results. The study aimed to identify, using a competing risk analysis, risk factors for HCC-dependent LT failure, defined as pretransplant tumor-related delisting or posttransplant recurrence. The study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (identification number NCT03723304). In order to offset the initial limitations of the investigated population, an inverse probability of treatment weighting (IP…