Development and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144). This special issue belongs to the section "Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 5518

Special Issue Editors

Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China
Interests: radiotherapy of pelvic tumor (e.g., rectal, prostate cancer); radiomics

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Guest Editor
Department of Colorectal Surgery, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Centre, Guangzhou 510060, China
Interests: colorectal surgery; immunotherapy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most deadly cancer globally. The incidence of CRC is increasing with the rapid economic growth and global aging population. In the early stage of CRC, the 5-year survival rate is up to 90 percent after surgical excision. In contrast, those in the advanced stages of CRC usually need to be treated with combination therapy of chemotherapy and surgery, and the 5-year survival rate presents a decline to varying degrees. Immunotherapy has achieved impressive success over the past few years and revolutionized the clinical management of different types of malignancies, especially in the one that previously had the worst prognosis.

We would like to focus on the most recent improvements in the field of the pathogenesis mechanisms of CRC, along with early diagnoses based on gene or bio-markers and modern therapeutic strategies for the prevention and control of these diseases. Based on the result of the KEYNOTE-177 and NICHE study, dMMR colorectal cancer patients could achieve a very good respond to PD-1 blockade. However, there is still a need to know more about immunotherapy.

Colorectal cancer is usually caused by complex genetic and environmental factors. Despite the dramatic improvement in CRC treatment, metastatic CRC is still an unmet challenge. There is an urgent need for innovative and effective drug candidates, especially for metastatic CRC patients. We also would like to investigate how to improve the outcome of immunotherapy for colorectal cancer.

We welcome the submission of research papers related to the following: pathogenesis, diagnostics, and therapeutics of CRC.

Dr. Feng Zhao
Dr. Rongxin Zhang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • colorectal cancer
  • metastasis
  • pathogenesis
  • diagnostics
  • bio-markers
  • therapeutics
  • immunotherapy

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1069 KiB  
Article
Radiation Therapy Changed the Second Malignancy Pattern in Rectal Cancer Survivors
by Xiaoxian Ye, Yinuo Tan, Ruishuang Ma, Pengrong Lou and Ying Yuan
Medicina 2023, 59(8), 1463; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59081463 - 15 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1384
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Radiotherapy (RT) plays an important role in the treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer patients. It can bring radio exposure together with the survival benefit. Cancer survivors are generally at an increased risk for second malignancies, and survivors receiving RT [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Radiotherapy (RT) plays an important role in the treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer patients. It can bring radio exposure together with the survival benefit. Cancer survivors are generally at an increased risk for second malignancies, and survivors receiving RT may have higher risks than survivors not receiving RT. Whether the risk of an all-site second malignancy may increase after RT is still debated. This study aims to compare the second malignancy pattern in rectal cancer survivors after RT. Materials and Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was used for analysis. In total, 49,961 rectal cancer patients (20–84 years of age) were identified between 2000 and 2012 from 18 SEER registries. All patients underwent surgery. The occurrence of second malignancies diagnosed after rectal cancer diagnosis was compared in patients who received and did not receive RT. The standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used. SEER*Stat was used to generate the 95% CIs for the SIR statistics using the exact method. Results: Of the total 49,961 patients, 5582 developed second malignancies. For all-site second primary malignancies, the age-adjusted SIRs were 1.14 (95% CI 1.1–1.18) and 1.00 (95% CI 0.96–1.04) in the no RT and RT groups, respectively. In 23,192 patients from the surgery-only group, 2604 had second malignancies, and in 26,769 patients who received RT, 2978 developed second malignancies. With respect to every site, the risk of secondary prostate cancer was significantly lower in the RT group (SIR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.33–0.46) than that in the surgery-only group (SIR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.96–1.12). Moreover, the risk of thyroid cancer was significantly higher in the RT group (SIR = 2.80, 95% CI 2.2–3.51) than that in the surgery-only group (SIR = 1.29, 95% CI 0.99–1.66). Conclusions: RT may change the second malignancy pattern in rectal cancer survivors; the risk of prostate cancer decreased, and the risk of thyroid cancer increased most significantly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer)
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12 pages, 1432 KiB  
Article
Primary Tumor Resection Plus Chemotherapy versus Chemotherapy Alone for Colorectal Cancer Patients with Synchronous Bone Metastasis
by Yanqing Li, Xiaofei Cheng, Chenhan Zhong and Ying Yuan
Medicina 2023, 59(8), 1384; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59081384 - 28 Jul 2023
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Abstract
Background and Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) bone metastasis (BM), particularly synchronous metastasis, is infrequent and has a poor prognosis. Radical surgery for CRC with BM is challenging, and chemotherapy is the standard treatment. However, it is unclear whether combining chemotherapy with primary [...] Read more.
Background and Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) bone metastasis (BM), particularly synchronous metastasis, is infrequent and has a poor prognosis. Radical surgery for CRC with BM is challenging, and chemotherapy is the standard treatment. However, it is unclear whether combining chemotherapy with primary tumor resection (PTR) yields greater survival benefits than chemotherapy alone, as no relevant reports exist. Material and Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database provided data on 1662 CRC patients with bone metastasis between 2010 and 2018, who were divided into two groups: chemotherapy combined with PTR and chemotherapy alone. Survival distributions were compared using the log-rank test, and survival estimates were obtained using the Kaplan–Meier method. A Cox proportional multivariate regression analysis was conducted to estimate the survival benefit of chemotherapy combined with PTR while controlling for additional prognostic factors. Results: The chemotherapy only group consisted of 1277 patients (76.8%), while the chemotherapy combined with PTR group contained 385 patients (23.2%). Patients who received chemotherapy combined with PTR had a significantly higher 1-year survival rate (60.7%) and 2-year survival rate (32.7%) compared to those who only received chemotherapy (43.8% and 18.4%, respectively; p < 0.0001). Independent prognostic factors identified by Cox proportional analysis were age, location of the primary tumor, type of tumor, M stage, metastasectomy and PTR. Patients who received chemotherapy combined with PTR had a significantly improved prognosis (HR 0.586, 95% CI 0.497–0.691, p < 0.0001). All subgroups demonstrated a survival advantage for patients who received chemotherapy in combination with PTR. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients with BM from CRC may benefit from chemotherapy combined with PTR. Our analysis also identified age, location of the primary tumor, type of tumor, M stage, metastasectomy, and PTR as independent prognostic risk factors for CRC patients with synchronous BM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer)
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12 pages, 1865 KiB  
Article
HSPB6 Is Depleted in Colon Cancer Patients and Its Expression Is Induced by 5-aza-2′-Deoxycytidine In Vitro
by Bader O. Almutairi, Mikhlid H. Almutairi, Abdulwahed F. Alrefaei, Saad Alkahtani and Saud Alarifi
Medicina 2023, 59(5), 996; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59050996 - 21 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2026
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Colon cancer (CC) is the second most common cancer in Saudi Arabia, and the number of new cases is expected to increase by 40% by 2040. Sixty percent of patients with CC are diagnosed in the late stage, causing a [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Colon cancer (CC) is the second most common cancer in Saudi Arabia, and the number of new cases is expected to increase by 40% by 2040. Sixty percent of patients with CC are diagnosed in the late stage, causing a reduced survival rate. Thus, identifying a new biomarker could contribute to diagnosing CC in the early stages, leading to delivering better therapy and increasing the survival rate. Materials and Methods: HSPB6 expression was investigated in extracted RNA taken from 10 patients with CC and their adjacent normal tissues, as well as in DMH-induced CC and a colon treated with saline taken from a male Wistar rat. Additionally, the DNA of the LoVo and Caco-2 cell lines was collected, and bisulfite was converted to measure the DNA methylation level. This was followed by applying 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (AZA) to the LoVo and Caco-2 cell lines for 72 h to see the effect of DNA methylation on HSPB6 expression. Finally, the GeneMANIA database was used to find the interacted genes at transcriptional and translational levels with HSPB6. Results: We found that the expression of HSPB6 was downregulated in 10 CC tissues compared to their adjacent normal colon tissues, as well as in the in vivo study, where its expression was lower in the colon treated with the DMH agent compared to the colon treated with saline. This suggests the possible role of HSPB6 in tumor progression. Moreover, HSPB6 was methylated in two CC cell lines (LoVo and Caco-2), and demethylation with AZA elevated its expression, implying a mechanistic association between DNA methylation and HSPB6 expression. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that HSPB6 is adversely expressed with tumor progression, and its expression may be controlled by DNA methylation. Thus, HSPB6 could be a good biomarker employed in the CC diagnostic process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer)
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