Predictive factors to targeted treatment in gastrointestinal carcinomas

Issue title: An update from the Romanian international meeting “Cancer molecular pathobiology in the clinics: Highlights”

Guest editors: Ioana Berindan Neagoex and Angelo Paradisoy

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Silvestris, Nicola^{a; *} | Marech, Ilaria^b | Brunetti, Anna Elisabetta^c | Azzariti, Amalia^d | Numico, Gianmauro^e | Cicero, Giuseppe^f | Delcuratolo, Sabina^c | De Luca, Raffaele^g | Burz, Claudia^h | Lorusso, Vito^a

Affiliations: [a] Medical Oncology Unit, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Bari, Italy | [b] Interventional Radiology Unit with Integrated Section of Translational Medical Oncology, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Bari, Italy | [c] Scientific Direction, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Bari, Italy | [d] Clinical and Preclinical Pharmacology Laboratory, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Bari, Italy | [e] Medical Oncology Department, Ospedale U. Parini, Aosta, Italy | [f] Clinical Experimental Oncology Laboratory, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Bari, Italy | [g] Department of Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Bari, Italy | [h] The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania | [x] The University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iuliu Hatieganu, Cluj, Napoca, Romania | [y] National Cancer Research Center, Istituto Tumori G Paolo II, IRCCS, Bari, Italy

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Nicola Silvestris, Medical and Experimental Oncology Unit, National Cancer Research Centre “Giovanni Paolo II”, Viale Orazio Flacco, 65, 70124 Bari, Italy. Tel.: +39 080 5555442; Fax: +39 080 5555416; Mobile: +39 3332228492; E-mail: n.silvestris@oncologico.bari.it.

Abstract: Most cancers are traditionally treated with either chemotherapeutic agents, radiotherapy, or both. Identification of specific molecular characteristics of tumors and the advent of molecular-targeted drugs not only enhance the efficacy but also decrease the toxicity of treatment. These new therapies may target pathways critical to tumor development or specific driver mutations in cancer cells. This understanding of the molecular pathways of cancer cells has led to the ability to predict cancer development, behaviour and prognosis, as well as response or resistance to current therapeutic agents. As a result, pathologic analyses play a vital role in the detection of cancer biomarkers, which are important not only in the diagnosis of cancers but also in the selection of appropriate therapeutic agents and in the development of new targeted therapies.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal cancer, targeted therapy, EGFR, HER2, VEGF

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-130327

Journal: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 14, no. 2-3, pp. 151-162, 2014