Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · AIMS Genet 2018; 05(01): 075-090
DOI: 10.3934/genet.2018.1.75
Review

Esophageal cancer research today and tomorrow: Lessons from algae and other perspectives

Autor*innen

  • Vladlena Tiasto

    1   Centre for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine, School of Biomedicine, FEFU, 8 Sukhanova str, Vladivostok, Primorsky region, 690950, Russian Federation
  • Valeriia Mikhailova

    1   Centre for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine, School of Biomedicine, FEFU, 8 Sukhanova str, Vladivostok, Primorsky region, 690950, Russian Federation
  • Valeriia Gulaia

    1   Centre for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine, School of Biomedicine, FEFU, 8 Sukhanova str, Vladivostok, Primorsky region, 690950, Russian Federation
  • Valeriia Vikhareva

    2   Laboratory of Pharmacology and Bioassays, School of Biomedicine, FEFU, 8 Sukhanova str, Vladivostok, Primorsky region, 690950, Russian Federation
  • Boris Zorin

    3   Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory, The French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology for Drylands, The J. Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
  • Alexandra Kalitnik

    2   Laboratory of Pharmacology and Bioassays, School of Biomedicine, FEFU, 8 Sukhanova str, Vladivostok, Primorsky region, 690950, Russian Federation
  • Alexander Kagansky

    1   Centre for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine, School of Biomedicine, FEFU, 8 Sukhanova str, Vladivostok, Primorsky region, 690950, Russian Federation

Abstract

Esophageal cancer is an increasing concern due to poor prognosis, aggressive disease modalities, and a lack of efficient therapeutics. The two types of esophageal cancer: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) are responsible for an estimated 450,000 annual deaths, with over 457,000 new patients diagnosed in 2015, making it the eighth most prevalent and the 10th most fatal cancer worldwide. As esophageal cancer prevalence continues to increase, and so does the pressing need for the development of new and effective strategies for the early diagnostics, prevention, and treatment of this cancer, as well for building the innovative research tools to understand the affected molecular mechanisms.

This short review summarizes the current statistics and recent research of the problems and solutions related to the esophageal cancer, and offer a brief overview of its epidemiology, molecular alterations, and existing biomedical tools. We will discuss currently available research tools and discuss selected approaches we deem relevant to find new model systems and therapies for the future with the special focus on novel opportunities presented by the unique molecules found in algae, namely carbohydrates and lipids. Their remarkable chemical variability is connected to their striking structural and functional properties, which combined with the relative novelty of these compounds to cancer biology, warrants interest of the wide biomedical community to these molecules, especially in the esophageal cancer theory and practice.



Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 02. Dezember 2017

Angenommen: 01. März 2018

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
10. Mai 2021

© 2018. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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