American Journal of Cancer Research 

About: American Journal of Cancer Research is an academic journal published by e-Century Publishing Corporation. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Medicine & Cancer. It has an ISSN identifier of 2156-6976. Over the lifetime, 2469 publications have been published receiving 52631 citations. The journal is also known as: AJCR.

Breast cancer intrinsic subtype classification, clinical use and future trends

Abstract: Breast cancer is composed of multiple subtypes with distinct morphologies and clinical implications. The advent of microarrays has led to a new paradigm in deciphering breast cancer heterogeneity, based on which the intrinsic subtyping system using prognostic multigene classifiers was developed. Subtypes identified using different gene panels, though overlap to a great extent, do not completely converge, and the avail of new information and perspectives has led to the emergence of novel subtypes, which complicate our understanding towards breast tumor heterogeneity. This review explores and summarizes the existing intrinsic subtypes, patient clinical features and management, commercial signature panels, as well as various information used for tumor classification. Two trends are pointed out in the end on breast cancer subtyping, i.e., either diverging to more refined groups or converging to the major subtypes. This review improves our understandings towards breast cancer intrinsic classification, current status on clinical application, and future trends.

Revisiting the hallmarks of cancer.

Abstract: The hallmarks of cancer described by Hanahan and Weinberg have proved seminal in our understanding of cancer's common traits and in rational drug design. Not free of critique and with understanding of different aspects of tumorigenesis coming into clearer focus in the recent years, we attempt to draw a more organized and updated picture of the cancer hallmarks. We define seven hallmarks of cancer: selective growth and proliferative advantage, altered stress response favoring overall survival, vascularization, invasion and metastasis, metabolic rewiring, an abetting microenvironment, and immune modulation, while highlighting some considerations for the future of the field.

PD-1/PD-L1 pathway: current researches in cancer

Abstract: Cancer immunotherapy has been accompanied by promising results over the past few years. Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (PD-1) plays a vital role in inhibiting immune responses and promoting self-tolerance through modulating the activity of T-cells, activating apoptosis of antigen-specific T cells and inhibiting apoptosis of regulatory T cells. Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a trans-membrane protein that is considered to be a co-inhibitory factor of the immune response, it can combine with PD-1 to reduce the proliferation of PD-1 positive cells, inhibit their cytokine secretion and induce apoptosis. PD-L1 also plays an important role in various malignancies where it can attenuate the host immune response to tumor cells. Based on these perspectives, PD-1/PD-L1 axis is responsible for cancer immune escape and makes a huge effect on cancer therapy. This review is aimed to summarize the role of PD-1 and PD-L1 in cancer, looking forward to improve the therapy of cancer.

EGFR mutation incidence in non-small-cell lung cancer of adenocarcinoma histology: a systematic review and global map by ethnicity (mutMapII)

Abstract: Mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene are commonly observed in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly in tumors of adenocarcinoma (ADC) histology (NSCLC/ADC). Robust data exist regarding the prevalence of EGFR mutations in Western and Asian patients with NSCLC/ADC, yet there is a lack of data for patients of other ethnicities. This review collated available data with the aim of creating a complete, global picture of EGFR mutation frequency in patients with NSCLC/ADC by ethnicity. Worldwide literature reporting EGFR mutation frequency in patients with NSCLC/ADC was reviewed, to create a map of the world populated with EGFR mutation frequency by country (a 'global EGFR mutMap'). A total of 151 worldwide studies (n=33162 patients with NSCLC/ADC, of which 9749 patients had EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC/ADC) were included. There was substantial variation in EGFR mutation frequency between studies, even when grouped by geographic region or individual country. As expected, the Asia-Pacific NSCLC/ADC subgroup had the highest EGFR mutation frequency (47% [5958/12819; 87 studies; range 20%-76%]) and the lowest EGFR mutation frequency occurred in the Oceania NSCLC/ADC subgroup (12% [69/570; 4 studies; range 7%-36%]); however, comparisons between regions were limited due to the varying sizes of the patient populations studied. In all regional (geographic) subgroups where data were available, EGFR mutation frequency in NSCLC/ADC was higher in women compared with men, and in never-compared with ever-smokers. This review provides the foundation for a global map of EGFR mutation frequency in patients with NSCLC/ADC. The substantial lack of data from several large geographic regions of the world, notably Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Central and South America, highlights a potential lack of routine mutation testing and the need for further investigations in these regions.

Cancer associated fibroblasts: the dark side of the coin

Abstract: Valid experimental evidence has recently shown that progression of malignant tumors does not depend exclusively on cell-autonomous properties of the cancer cells, but is also deeply influenced by tumor stroma reactivity and undergoes a strict microenvironmental control. Beside structural environmental components as extracellular matrix (ECM) or hypoxia, stromal cells as macrophages, endothelial cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play a definite role in cancer progression. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the role of CAFs in tumor progression towards an aggressive phenotype, with particular emphasis on invasiveness, stemness, and preparation of metastatic niche. The controversial origins of CAFs as well as the therapeutical implications of targeting CAFs for anticancer therapy are discussed.