Cellular senescence has gradually been recognized as a key process, which not only inhibits the occurrence of early tumors but also promotes advanced malignant progression through secretory and immunomodulatory functions. Initially, cellular senescence manifested as irreversible cell cycle arrest, but now it encompasses a broader phenotype regulated by the p53-p21CIP1 and...
Resistance to poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) poses a major challenge to therapeutic efficacy in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Although circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators in cancer biology, their involvement in PARPi resistance remains largely uncharacterized. This study aims to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which...
BRD9 is involved in multiple physiological and pathological pathways, yet its functional role and molecular mechanisms in gastric cancer (GC) remain largely unexplored. Addressing this knowledge gap is critical given the persistent global mortality burden of GC and the limited efficacy of current therapeutic strategies. BRD9 expression in GC patients was systematically analyzed...
Recent studies suggest that intratumoral microbiome and altered metabolic networks play crucial roles in pancreatic cancer (PC) progression. However, the precise interplay between microbial communities and tumor metabolism in PC remains poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the impact of the intratumoral microbiome, the metabolic landscape, and their interactions on...
Although 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (HPGD) is known to regulate the metabolism of prostaglandins and lipoxin A4, and its dysregulation has been implicated in various cancers, its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been determined. This study is the first to comprehensively characterize HPGD expression in ESCC and establish its clinical relevance...
Acetylcholine (ACh) is an essential neurotransmitter that has recently gained attention for its multifunctional role in tumor immune regulation. By binding neuronal loss to nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, ACh directly promotes tumor cell proliferation and migration while modulating immune cell functions, thereby influencing the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, ACh plays...
Tumor drug resistance remains a significant barrier to effective cancer treatment, undermining the clinical efficacy of current therapies through adaptive and evolving mechanisms. Cuproptosis, a recently discovered form of programmed cell death, emerges as a promising tumor suppressor by targeting mitochondrial metabolic pathways, offering a novel strategy to combat drug...
Cancer remains a leading global health challenge, responsible for millions of deaths annually. Conventional therapies are hindered by systemic toxicity, drug resistance, and ineffective targeting of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have emerged as promising tools in oncology, offering unique plasmonic properties, high biocompatibility, and the ability...
The RAS signaling pathway, particularly through mutations in KRAS, NRAS, and HRAS, plays a pivotal role in driving oncogenesis in a wide range of cancers. For years, RAS proteins were deemed "undruggable
This article has been retracted. Please see the Retraction Notice for more detail: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-019-0947-9.
Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have transitioned from conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents into structurally programmable combined imaging/treatment tools, leveraging their superparamagnetism, catalytic activity, and surface engineering versatility to achieve spatiotemporal control over drug delivery and immune modulation. Advances in nanofabrication...
The advent of molecular classification has ushered breast cancer treatment into the era of precision medicine. Nevertheless, clinical management continues to face significant challenges posed by drug resistance and tumor heterogeneity. Recent advances have identified novel programmed cell death (PCD) mechanisms-including ferroptosis, cuproptosis, disulfidptosis, and pyroptosis-as...
This article has been retracted. Please see the Retraction Notice for more detail: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-019-1128-6.
Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized clinical oncology; however, the inherent complexity and heterogeneity of cancer present substantial challenges to achieving broad therapeutic efficacy. Tumor heterogeneity manifests not only among different patients but also within individual tumors, further complicating personalized treatment approaches. Single-cell sequencing technologies...
Digestive system cancers—including gastric, liver, colorectal, esophageal, and pancreatic malignancies—remain leading causes of cancer death, with treatment resistance posing major challenges in advanced disease. Patient-derived cancer organoids (PDCOs), 3D mini-tumors grown from patient biopsies, have revolutionized personalized oncology by faithfully replicating tumor biology...
Biomolecular phase separation has emerged as a fundamental mechanism governing intracellular spatial organization and functional compartmentalization, and is increasingly recognized as a critical factor in tumor initiation and progression. Through multivalent molecular interactions, biomolecular phase separation contributes to the formation of condensates that mediate the...
Oxidative stress is a pathological condition of redox signaling dysregulation and macromolecular oxidative damage arising from elevated ROS levels. Oxidative stress interacts with tumor cell growth regulation and tumor microenvironment remodeling, and has been a critical hallmark of cancer. Targeting oxidative stress has garnered great attention in cancer therapy development...
Lymph node metastasis is a key driver of poor outcomes in cervical cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of circular RNAs (circRNAs) driving cervical cancer lymph node metastasis remain unclear. We identified circZFR, fatty acid synthase (FASN) and YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein F3 (YTHDF3) protein expression in the cervical cancer patients with long and short...
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive breast cancer subtype associated with the highest mortality rate among all breast cancer subtypes, primarily due to the absence of actionable therapeutic targets. Although poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) have shown promising therapeutic effects in TNBC patients harboring homologous recombination...
The critical role of neurotransmitters in the resistance to tumor immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) is becoming increasingly significant in therapeutic contexts. ICIs work by enhancing antitumor immunity through the blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 pathways. However, only 20% of patients experience durable efficacy, and the challenge of drug resistance limits the clinical...
Recent global data show that cancers of the digestive system are responsible for approximately one-third of all cancer-related deaths worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies. In this context, emerging findings from neuroscience may unveil new avenues for tackling this pressing clinical problem. Over the past few years, rapid progress in...
Cellular senescence is a double-edged sword in cancer biology, functioning as both a tumor-suppressive mechanism and a driver of malignancy. Initially, senescence acts as a protective barrier by arresting the proliferation of damaged or oncogene-expressing cells via pathways such as oncogene-induced senescence and the DNA damage response. However, persistent senescence-associated...
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely aggressive disease, and standard of care therapies have failed to yield significant clinical benefit, with invasive surgery being the only curative treatment for patients with early-stage disease. Tumor-associated glycans in pancreatic cancer have direct effects on the survival and propagation of the tumor proper and...