Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Colorectal Cancer

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Methods and Technologies Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 2563

Special Issue Editors

Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
Interests: antineoplastic pharmacology; drug delivery; drug resistance; drug discovery; photodynamic therapy; tumor hypoxia
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute for the Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity, Italian National Research Council, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Interests: cancer treatment; nanomedicine; drug discovery; drug delivery; organic chemistry; targeted therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute for the Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), National Research Council (CNR), 40129 Bologna, Italy
Interests: cancer treatment; nanomedicine; drug discovery; drug delivery; organic chemistry; targeted therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, with a 5-year survival rate (all stages) of 64%. Several environmental factors are related to CRC: obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, and a low-fiber, high-fat diet. In this context, the involvement of the gut environment, including the microbiome, has emerged as a crucial factor contributing to CRC progression. On the other hand, older age, male gender, African American race, and family history are non-modifiable risk factors for CRC development. Furthermore, early CRC presentation, accounting for up to 10% of all cases, is often associated with patients with genetic disorders.

Early-stage, non-metastatic CRC is primarily managed surgically, followed by adjuvant systemic chemotherapy or radiotherapy, while the first-line treatment for metastatic CRC usually involves systemic chemotherapy with capecitabin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin, and 5-fluorouracil, alone or in combination with biologics or immunotherapeutic drugs (i.e., anti-VEGF, anti-EGFR, anti-PD-1, BRAF inhibitors, and MEK inhibitors). However, the onset of multidrug-resistant mechanisms and severe side effects and the poor quality of life induced by these treatments have prompted the development of novel and potentially more effective therapeutic options for CRC treatment.

Because of the above, the current Special Issue aims to collect original research articles and comprehensive reviews on the most recent advances concerning CRC treatment, including (but not limited to) the following: novel small anticancer molecules; epigenetic drugs; nanotechnology-based combination therapies; targeted therapies including external-stimuli-activated approaches; drug repurposing; immunotherapeutic approaches.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Marzia Bruna Gariboldi
Dr. Greta Varchi
Dr. Claudia Ferroni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • colorectal cancer
  • small molecules
  • epigenetic drugs
  • drug-delivery system
  • targeted therapy
  • personalized medicine
  • photodynamic therapy
  • photothermal therapy
  • sonodynamic therapy
  • drug repurposing
  • combination therapy

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

24 pages, 5377 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Anti-Tumorigenic Efficacy of Eugenol in Human Colon Cancer Cells Using Enzyme-Responsive Nanoparticles
by Nisitha Wijewantha, Sanam Sane, Morgan Eikanger, Ryan M. Antony, Rashaun A. Potts, Lydia Lang, Khosrow Rezvani and Grigoriy Sereda
Cancers 2023, 15(4), 1145; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15041145 - 10 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2044
Abstract
This study is focused on the selective delivery and release of the plant-based anticancer compound eugenol (EUG) in colorectal cancer cells (CRC). EUG is an apoptotic and anti-growth compound in diverse malignant tumors, including CRC. However, EUG’s rapid metabolization, excretion, and side effects [...] Read more.
This study is focused on the selective delivery and release of the plant-based anticancer compound eugenol (EUG) in colorectal cancer cells (CRC). EUG is an apoptotic and anti-growth compound in diverse malignant tumors, including CRC. However, EUG’s rapid metabolization, excretion, and side effects on normal cells at higher dosages are major limitations of its therapeutic potential. To address this problem, we developed a “smart” enzyme-responsive nanoparticle (eNP) loaded with EUG that exposes tumors to a high level of the drug while keeping its concentration low among healthy cells. We demonstrated that EUG induces apoptosis in CRC cells irrespective of their grades in a dose- and time-dependent manner. EUG significantly decreases cancer cell migration, invasion, and the population of colon cancer stem cells, which are key players in tumor metastasis and drug resistance. The “smart” eNPs–EUG show a high affinity to cancer cells with rapid internalization with no affinity toward normal colon epithelial cells. NPs–EUG enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of EUG measured by a cell viability assay and showed no toxicity effect on normal cells. The development of eNPs–EUG is a promising strategy for innovative anti-metastatic therapeutics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Colorectal Cancer)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop