Biomarkers of Favorable vs. Unfavorable Responses in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy

Hsin-Hua Lee; Chien-Hung Chen; Yu-Hsiang Huang; Cheng-Han Chiang; Ming-Yii Huang

doi:10.3390/cells11101611

Biomarkers of Favorable vs. Unfavorable Responses in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy

Cells. 2022 May 11;11(10):1611. doi: 10.3390/cells11101611.

Authors

Hsin-Hua Lee^{1

2

3

4}, Chien-Hung Chen^{2

4

5}, Yu-Hsiang Huang⁶, Cheng-Han Chiang², Ming-Yii Huang^{1

2

3

4

7}

Affiliations

¹ Ph.D. Program in Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
² Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
⁴ Center for Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 801, Taiwan.
⁶ Post-Graduate Year Training, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
⁷ Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death globally. The gold standard for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) nowadays is preoperative concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT). Approximately three quarters of LARC patients do not achieve pathological complete response and hence suffer from relapse, metastases and inevitable death. The exploration of trustworthy and timely biomarkers for CCRT response is urgently called for. This review focused upon a broad spectrum of biomarkers, including circulating tumor cells, DNA, RNA, oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, epigenetics, impaired DNA mismatch repair, patient-derived xenografts, in vitro tumor organoids, immunity and microbiomes. Utilizing proper biomarkers can assist in categorizing appropriate patients by the most efficient treatment modality with the best outcome and accompanied by minimal side effects. The purpose of this review is to inspect and analyze accessible data in order to fully realize the promise of precision oncology for rectal cancer patients.

Keywords: CCRT; biomarker; neoadjuvant therapy; pCR; rectal cancer.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biomarkers
Chemoradiotherapy
Humans
Neoadjuvant Therapy*
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
Precision Medicine
Rectal Neoplasms* / pathology

Substances

Biomarkers

Grants and funding

This work was supported financially by the Ministry of Science and Technology [M0ST 108-2314-B-037-021-MY3, MOST 110-2314-B-037-075-MY2], Kaohsiung Medical University (S110002) and Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH109-9M55 and KMUH110-0R72) in Taiwan. The funding source had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; or in the writing or the decision to submit the article for publication.