scholarly journals Therapeutically Targeting Cancers That Overexpress FOXC1: A Transcriptional Driver of Cell Plasticity, Partial EMT, and Cancer Metastasis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Ray ◽  
Terry Ryusaki ◽  
Partha S. Ray
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Cancer Recurrence ◽  
Treatment Resistance ◽  
Tnm Staging ◽  
Initial Diagnosis ◽  
Cancer Migration ◽  
Metastatic Risk ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

Metastasis accounts for more than 90% of cancer related mortality, thus the most pressing need in the field of oncology today is the ability to accurately predict future onset of metastatic disease, ideally at the time of initial diagnosis. As opposed to current practice, what would be desirable is that prognostic, biomarker-based detection of metastatic propensity and heightened risk of cancer recurrence be performed long before overt metastasis has set in. Without such timely information it will be impossible to formulate a rational therapeutic treatment plan to favorably alter the trajectory of disease progression. In order to help inform rational selection of targeted therapeutics, any recurrence/metastasis risk prediction strategy must occur with the paired identification of novel prognostic biomarkers and their underlying molecular regulatory mechanisms that help drive cancer recurrence/metastasis (i.e. recurrence biomarkers). Traditional clinical factors alone (such as TNM staging criteria) are no longer adequately prognostic for this purpose in the current molecular era. FOXC1 is a pivotal transcription factor that has been functionally implicated to drive cancer metastasis and has been demonstrated to be an independent predictor of heightened metastatic risk, at the time of initial diagnosis. In this review, we present our viewpoints on the master regulatory role that FOXC1 plays in mediating cancer stem cell traits that include cellular plasticity, partial EMT, treatment resistance, cancer invasion and cancer migration during cancer progression and metastasis. We also highlight potential therapeutic strategies to target cancers that are, or have evolved to become, “transcriptionally addicted” to FOXC1. The potential role of FOXC1 expression status in predicting the efficacy of these identified therapeutic approaches merits evaluation in clinical trials.

Galectin-3: A factotum in carcinogenesis bestowing an archery for prevention

Tumor Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96
Author(s):  
T. Jeethy Ram ◽  
Asha Lekshmi ◽  
Thara Somanathan ◽  
K. Sujathan
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Therapy Resistance ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Innovative Strategy ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Galectin 3

Cancer metastasis and therapy resistance are the foremost hurdles in oncology at the moment. This review aims to pinpoint the functional aspects of a unique multifaceted glycosylated molecule in both intracellular and extracellular compartments of a cell namely galectin-3 along with its metastatic potential in different types of cancer. All materials reviewed here were collected through the search engines PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar. Among the 15 galectins identified, the chimeric gal-3 plays an indispensable role in the differentiation, transformation, and multi-step process of tumor metastasis. It has been implicated in the molecular mechanisms that allow the cancer cells to survive in the intravascular milieu and promote tumor cell extravasation, ultimately leading to metastasis. Gal-3 has also been found to have a pivotal role in immune surveillance and pro-angiogenesis and several studies have pointed out the importance of gal-3 in establishing a resistant phenotype, particularly through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process. Additionally, some recent findings suggest the use of gal-3 inhibitors in overcoming therapeutic resistance. All these reports suggest that the deregulation of these specific lectins at the cellular level could inhibit cancer progression and metastasis. A more systematic study of glycosylation in clinical samples along with the development of selective gal-3 antagonists inhibiting the activity of these molecules at the cellular level offers an innovative strategy for primary cancer prevention.

scholarly journals Molecular and Functional Links between Neurodevelopmental Processes and Treatment-Induced Neuroendocrine Plasticity in Prostate Cancer Progression

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 692
Author(s):  
Roosa Kaarijärvi ◽  
Heidi Kaljunen ◽  
Kirsi Ketola
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Treatment Resistance ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Phenotypic Change ◽  
Prostate Cancer Progression ◽  
Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Molecular Features ◽  
Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

Neuroendocrine plasticity and treatment-induced neuroendocrine phenotypes have recently been proposed as important resistance mechanisms underlying prostate cancer progression. Treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer (t-NEPC) is highly aggressive subtype of castration-resistant prostate cancer which develops for one fifth of patients under prolonged androgen deprivation. In recent years, understanding of molecular features and phenotypic changes in neuroendocrine plasticity has been grown. However, there are still fundamental questions to be answered in this emerging research field, for example, why and how do the prostate cancer treatment-resistant cells acquire neuron-like phenotype. The advantages of the phenotypic change and the role of tumor microenvironment in controlling cellular plasticity and in the emergence of treatment-resistant aggressive forms of prostate cancer is mostly unknown. Here, we discuss the molecular and functional links between neurodevelopmental processes and treatment-induced neuroendocrine plasticity in prostate cancer progression and treatment resistance. We provide an overview of the emergence of neurite-like cells in neuroendocrine prostate cancer cells and whether the reported t-NEPC pathways and proteins relate to neurodevelopmental processes like neurogenesis and axonogenesis during the development of treatment resistance. We also discuss emerging novel therapeutic targets modulating neuroendocrine plasticity.

scholarly journals The metabolic adaptation mechanism of metastatic organotropism

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Wang ◽  
Daya Luo
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Cancer Cell ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Cancer Metabolism ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Tumour Microenvironment ◽  
Metabolic Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Mechanism ◽  
Metastatic Sites ◽  
The Impact

AbstractMetastasis is a complex multistep cascade of cancer cell extravasation and invasion, in which metabolism plays an important role. Recently, a metabolic adaptation mechanism of cancer metastasis has been proposed as an emerging model of the interaction between cancer cells and the host microenvironment, revealing a deep and extensive relationship between cancer metabolism and cancer metastasis. However, research on how the host microenvironment affects cancer metabolism is mostly limited to the impact of the local tumour microenvironment at the primary site. There are few studies on how differences between the primary and secondary microenvironments promote metabolic changes during cancer progression or how secondary microenvironments affect cancer cell metastasis preference. Hence, we discuss how cancer cells adapt to and colonize in the metabolic microenvironments of different metastatic sites to establish a metastatic organotropism phenotype. The mechanism is expected to accelerate the research of cancer metabolism in the secondary microenvironment, and provides theoretical support for the generation of innovative therapeutic targets for clinical metastatic diseases.

scholarly journals Metabolomic Analysis to Elucidate Mechanisms of Sunitinib Resistance in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Metabolites ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Tomonori Sato ◽  
Yoshihide Kawasaki ◽  
Masamitsu Maekawa ◽  
Shinya Takasaki ◽  
Kento Morozumi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renal Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Energy Metabolism ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Line ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Renal Cell ◽  
Treatment Resistance ◽  
Tca Cycle ◽  
Glutamine Uptake

Metabolomics analysis possibly identifies new therapeutic targets in treatment resistance by measuring changes in metabolites accompanying cancer progression. We previously conducted a global metabolomics (G-Met) study of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and identified metabolites that may be involved in sunitinib resistance in RCC. Here, we aimed to elucidate possible mechanisms of sunitinib resistance in RCC through intracellular metabolites. We established sunitinib-resistant and control RCC cell lines from tumor tissues of RCC cell (786-O)-injected mice. We also quantified characteristic metabolites identified in our G-Met study to compare intracellular metabolism between the two cell lines using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The established sunitinib-resistant RCC cell line demonstrated significantly desuppressed protein kinase B (Akt) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) phosphorylation compared with the control RCC cell line under sunitinib exposure. Among identified metabolites, glutamine, glutamic acid, and α-KG (involved in glutamine uptake into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle for energy metabolism); fructose 6-phosphate, D-sedoheptulose 7-phosphate, and glucose 1-phosphate (involved in increased glycolysis and its intermediate metabolites); and glutathione and myoinositol (antioxidant effects) were significantly increased in the sunitinib-resistant RCC cell line. Particularly, glutamine transporter (SLC1A5) expression was significantly increased in sunitinib-resistant RCC cells compared with control cells. In this study, we demonstrated energy metabolism with glutamine uptake and glycolysis upregulation, as well as antioxidant activity, was also associated with sunitinib resistance in RCC cells.

scholarly journals Cooperation of Cancer Stem Cell Properties and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in the Establishment of Breast Cancer Metastasis

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsu Hayashida ◽  
Hiromitsu Jinno ◽  
Yuko Kitagawa ◽  
Masaki Kitajima
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Cancer Stem Cell ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Metastatic Tumor ◽  
Breast Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a multistep process in which cells acquire molecular alterations such as loss of cell-cell junctions and restructuring of the cytoskeleton. There is an increasing understanding that this process may promote breast cancer progression through promotion of invasive and metastatic tumor growth. Recent observations imply that there may be a cross-talk between EMT and cancer stem cell properties, leading to enhanced tumorigenicity and the capacity to generate heterogeneous tumor cell populations. Here, we review the experimental and clinical evidence for the involvement of EMT in cancer stem cell theory, focusing on the common characteristics of this phenomenon.

Impact of Physical Activity on Cancer Recurrence and Survival in Patients With Stage III Colon Cancer: Findings From CALGB 89803

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (22) ◽  
pp. 3535-3541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt ◽  
Denise Heseltine ◽  
Donna Niedzwiecki ◽  
Donna Hollis ◽  
Leonard B. Saltz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Colon Cancer ◽  
Adjuvant Chemotherapy ◽  
Cancer Recurrence ◽  
Stage Iii ◽  
Index Number ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Stage Iii Colon Cancer ◽  
Activity Assessment ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

Purpose Regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing colon cancer, however, its influence on patients with established disease is unknown. Patients and Methods We conducted a prospective observational study of 832 patients with stage III colon cancer enrolled in a randomized adjuvant chemotherapy trial. Patients reported on various recreational physical activities approximately 6 months after completion of therapy and were observed for recurrence or death. To minimize bias by occult recurrence, we excluded patients who experienced recurrence or died within 90 days of their physical activity assessment. Results Compared with patients engaged in less than three metabolic equivalent task (MET) -hours per week of physical activity, the adjusted hazard ratio for disease-free survival was 0.51 (95% CI, 0.26 to 0.97) for 18 to 26.9 MET-hours per week and 0.55 (95% CI, 0.33 to 0.91) for 27 or more MET-hours per week. The adjusted P for trend was .01. Postdiagnosis activity was associated with similar improvements in recurrence-free survival (P for trend = .03) and overall survival (P for trend = .01). The benefit associated with physical activity was not significantly modified by sex, body mass index, number of positive lymph nodes, age, baseline performance status, or chemotherapy received. Moreover, the benefit remained unchanged even after excluding participants who developed cancer recurrence or died within 6 months of activity assessment. Conclusion Beyond surgical resection and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer, for patients who survive and are recurrence free approximately 6 months after adjuvant chemotherapy, physical activity appears to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and mortality.

scholarly journals Therapeutic Targeting of Epithelial Plasticity Programs: Focus on the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

2017 ◽  
Vol 203 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reem Malek ◽  
Hailun Wang ◽  
Kekoa Taparra ◽  
Phuoc T. Tran
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Malignant Tumors ◽  
Therapeutic Targets ◽  
Treatment Resistance ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Epithelial Plasticity ◽  
Canonical Pathways

Mounting data points to epithelial plasticity programs such as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as clinically relevant therapeutic targets for the treatment of malignant tumors. In addition to the widely realized role of EMT in increasing cancer cell invasiveness during cancer metastasis, the EMT has also been implicated in allowing cancer cells to avoid tumor suppressor pathways during early tumorigenesis. In addition, data linking EMT to innate and acquired treatment resistance further points towards the desire to develop pharmacological therapies to target epithelial plasticity in cancer. In this review we organized our discussion on pathways and agents that can be used to target the EMT in cancer into 3 groups: (1) extracellular inducers of EMT, (2) the transcription factors that orchestrate the EMT transcriptome, and (3) the downstream effectors of EMT. We highlight only briefly specific canonical pathways known to be involved in EMT, such as the signal transduction pathways TGFβ, EFGR, and Axl-Gas6. We emphasize in more detail pathways that we believe are emerging novel pathways and therapeutic targets such as epigenetic therapies, glycosylation pathways, and immunotherapy. The heterogeneity of tumors and the dynamic nature of epithelial plasticity in cancer cells make it likely that targeting only 1 EMT-related process will be unsuccessful or only transiently successful. We suggest that with greater understanding of epithelial plasticity regulation, such as with the EMT, a more systematic targeting of multiple EMT regulatory networks will be the best path forward to improve cancer outcomes.

scholarly journals lncRNA NORAD Contributes to Colorectal Cancer Progression by Inhibition of miR-202-5p

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1411-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Xiao-Yan Li ◽  
Ping Hu ◽  
Yuan-Sheng Ding
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Noncoding Rna ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Cellular Proliferation ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Competing Endogenous Rna

Previous study indicates that long noncoding RNA NORAD could serve as a competing endogenous RNA to pancreatic cancer metastasis. However, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) needs to be investigated. In the present study, we found that the expression of NORAD was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues. Furthermore, the expression of NORAD was positively related with CRC metastasis and patients’ poor prognosis. Knockdown of NORAD markedly inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion but induced cell apoptosis in vitro. In vivo experiments also indicated an inhibitory effect of NORAD on tumor growth. Mechanistically, we found that NORAD served as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-202-5p. We found that there was an inverse relationship between the expression of NORAD and miR-202-5p in CRC tissues. Moreover, overexpression of miR-202-5p in SW480 and HCT116 cells significantly inhibited cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion. Taken together, our study demonstrated that the NORAD/miR-202-5p axis plays a pivotal function on CRC progression.

scholarly journals Hepatitis B virus treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma patients prolongs survival and reduces the risk of cancer recurrence

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Pazgan-Simon ◽  
Krzysztof A. Simon ◽  
Ewa Jarowicz ◽  
Katarzyna Rotter ◽  
Anna Szymanek-Pasternak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Hepatitis B Virus ◽  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Cancer Recurrence ◽  
B Virus ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

scholarly journals TP53 drives invasion through expression of its Δ133p53β variant

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Gadea ◽  
Nikola Arsic ◽  
Kenneth Fernandes ◽  
Alexandra Diot ◽  
Sébastien M Joruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cell ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Cell Invasion ◽  
Tp53 Mutation ◽  
P53 Protein ◽  
Clinical Analysis ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Cancer Cell Invasion ◽  
Mutation Status ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

TP53 is conventionally thought to prevent cancer formation and progression to metastasis, while mutant TP53 has transforming activities. However, in the clinic, TP53 mutation status does not accurately predict cancer progression. Here we report, based on clinical analysis corroborated with experimental data, that the p53 isoform Δ133p53β promotes cancer cell invasion, regardless of TP53 mutation status. Δ133p53β increases risk of cancer recurrence and death in breast cancer patients. Furthermore Δ133p53β is critical to define invasiveness in a panel of breast and colon cell lines, expressing WT or mutant TP53. Endogenous mutant Δ133p53β depletion prevents invasiveness without affecting mutant full-length p53 protein expression. Mechanistically WT and mutant Δ133p53β induces EMT. Our findings provide explanations to 2 long-lasting and important clinical conundrums: how WT TP53 can promote cancer cell invasion and reciprocally why mutant TP53 gene does not systematically induce cancer progression.

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