circBGN accelerates gastric cancer cell proliferation and invasion via activating IL6/STAT3 signaling pathway

ncRNAs as Key Regulators in Gastric Cancer: From Molecular Subtyping to Therapeutic Targets

Gastric cancer (GC) poses a major global health challenge, underscoring the need for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), have emerged as pivotal regulators in GC, with their dysregulated expression driving key processes such as tumorigenesis, metastasis, immune evasion, and chemoresistance. The functional diversity of ncRNAs across different GC molecular subtypes highlights their potential as biomarkers for improved subtype classification and patient stratification. Beyond their diagnostic value, ncRNAs demonstrate critical regulatory functions in tumor biology, establishing these RNA molecules as promising targets for therapeutic development. Strategies based on RNA hold considerable promise for addressing critical challenges such as immune escape and drug resistance by modulating key signaling pathways. These approaches can enhance immune responses, reprogram the tumor microenvironment, and reverse resistance mechanisms that compromise treatment efficacy, thereby improving clinical outcomes. Although ncRNAs represent a promising frontier in GC precision medicine, further research is required to fully harness their clinical potential.

The Dual Roles of STAT3 in Ferroptosis: Mechanism, Regulation and Therapeutic Potential

Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent programmed mechanism of cell death that is driven by lipid peroxidation, is an important pathogenic factor in oncological and non-oncological disorders. Dysregulation of iron and lipid metabolism profoundly influences disease progression through ferroptosis modulation. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a transcriptional regulator, regulates ferroptosis by binding to promoters of key molecules such as solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), and ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1). In this review, we described the role of STAT3 in supporting tumors survival by suppressing ferroptosis in malignancies, and bidirectionally regulating ferroptosis in non-tumors to regulate the development of the disease. We also reported emerging therapeutic strategies that target STAT3-mediated ferroptosis, including natural phytochemicals, inhibitors, and nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery systems. These advancements deepen the mechanistic understanding of ferroptosis regulation, and provide new theoretical bases and strategies to treat ferroptosis-related diseases.

Crosstalk between circular RNAs and the STAT3 signaling pathway in human cancer

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are endogenous covalently closed single-stranded RNAs produced by reverse splicing of pre-mRNA. Emerging evidence suggests that circRNAs contribute to cancer progression by modulating the oncogenic STAT3 signaling pathway, which plays key roles in human malignancies. STAT3 signaling-related circRNAs expression appears to be extensively dysregulated in diverse cancer types, where they function either as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. However, the biological effects of STAT3 signaling-related circRNAs and their associations with cancer have not been systematically studied before. Given this, shedding light on the interaction between circRNAs and STAT3 signaling pathway in human malignancies may provide several novel insights into cancer therapy. In this review, we provide a comprehensive introduction to the molecular mechanisms by which circRNAs regulate STAT3 signaling in cancer progression, and the crosstalk between STAT3 signaling-related circRNAs and other signaling pathways. We also further discuss the role of the circRNA/STAT3 axis in cancer chemotherapy sensitivity.

The potential of circular RNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for gastric cancer: A comprehensive review

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer (GC) is a global health concern, contributing significantly to cancer-related mortality rates. Early detection is vital for improving patient outcomes. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have emerged as crucial players in the development and progression of various cancers, including GC.

AIM

This comprehensive review underscores the promising potential of circRNAs as innovative biomarkers for the early diagnosis of GC, as well as their possible utility as therapeutic targets for this life-threatening disease. Specifically, the review focuses on recent findings, mechanistic insights, and clinical applications of circRNAs in GC.

KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW

Dysregulation of circRNAs has been consistently observed in GC tissues, offering potential diagnostic value due to their stability in bodily fluids such as blood and urine. For instance, circPTPN22 and hsa_circ_000200. Furthermore, the expression levels of circRNAs such as circCUL2, hsa_circ_0000705 and circSHKBP1 have shown strong associations with critical clinical features of GC, including diagnosis, prognosis, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and treatment response. Additionally, circRNAs such as circBGN, circLMO7, and circMAP7D1 have shown interactions with specific microRNAs (miRNAs), proteins, and other molecules that play key roles in development and progression of GC. This further highlighting their potential as therapeutic targets. Despite their potential, several challenges need to be addressed to effectively apply circRNAs as GC biomarkers. These include standardizing detection methods, establishing cutoff values for diagnostic accuracy, and validating findings in larger patient cohorts. Moreover, the functional mechanisms by which circRNAs contribute to GC pathogenesis and therapeutic resistance warrant further investigation. Advances in circRNAs research could provide valuable insights into the early detection and targeted treatment of GC, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Induction, growth, drug resistance, and metastasis: A comprehensive summary of the relationship between STAT3 and gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is a prevalent and highly lethal malignancy that poses substantial challenges to healthcare systems globally. Owing to its often asymptomatic nature in early stages, diagnosis frequently occurs at advanced stages when surgical intervention is no longer a viable option, forcing most patients to rely on nonsurgical treatments such as chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and emerging immunotherapies. Unfortunately, the therapeutic response rates for these treatments are suboptimal, and even among responders, the eventual development of drug resistance remains a significant clinical hurdle. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a widely expressed cellular protein that plays crucial roles in regulating cellular processes such as growth, metabolism, and immune function. Aberrant activation of the STAT3 pathway has been implicated in the initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance of several cancers, with gastric cancer being particularly affected. Dysregulated STAT3 signaling not only drives tumorigenesis but also facilitates the development of resistance to chemotherapy and targeted therapies, as well as promotes metastatic dissemination. In this study, we explored the critical role of the STAT3 signaling cascade in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer, its contribution to drug resistance, and its involvement in the metastatic process. Furthermore, we assess recent advances in the development of STAT3 inhibitors and their potential application as therapeutic agents in the treatment of gastric cancer. This work provides a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of STAT3 in gastric cancer and offers a foundation for future research aimed at improving therapeutic outcomes in this challenging disease.

Optimized therapeutic potential of Sijunzi-similar formulae for chronic atrophic gastritis via Bayesian network meta-analysis

Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is considered as a significant risk factor for triggering gastric cancer incidence, if not effectively treated. Sijunzi decoction (SD) is a well-known classic formula for treating gastric disorders, and Sijunzi-similar formulae (SF) derived from SD have also been highly regarded by Chinese clinical practitioners for their effectiveness in treating chronic atrophic gastritis. Currently, there is a lack of meta-analysis for these formulae, leaving unclear which exhibits optimal efficacy. Therefore, we employed Bayesian network meta-analysis (BNMA) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SF as an intervention for CAG and to establish a scientific foundation for the clinical utilization of SF. The result of meta-analysis demonstrated that the combination of SF and basic therapy outperformed basic therapy alone in terms of clinical efficacy rate, eradication rate of H. pylori, and incidence of adverse events. As indicated by the SUCRA value, Chaishao Liujunzi decoction (CLD) demonstrated superior efficacy in enhancing clinical effectiveness and ameliorating H. pylori infection, and it also showed remarkable effectiveness in minimizing the occurrence of adverse events. Comprehensive analysis of therapeutic efficacy suggests that CLD is most likely the optimal choice among these six formulations, holding potential value for optimizing clinical treatment strategies. See also the graphical abstract(Fig. 1).

Emerging roles of circular RNAs in tumorigenesis, progression, and treatment of gastric cancer

With an estimated one million new cases reported annually, gastric cancer (GC) ranks as the fifth most diagnosed malignancy worldwide. The early detection of GC remains a major challenge, and the prognosis worsens either when patients develop resistance to chemotherapy or radiotherapy or when the cancer metastasizes. The precise pathogenesis underlying GC is not well understood, which further complicates its treatment. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a recently discovered class of noncoding RNAs that originate from parental genes through "back-splicing", have been shown to play a key role in various biological processes in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. CircRNAs have been linked to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, and the occurrence and progression of tumors. Prior studies have established that circRNAs play a crucial role in GC, impacting tumorigenesis, diagnosis, progression, and therapy resistance. This review aims to summarize how circRNAs contribute to GC tumorigenesis and progression, examine their roles in the development of drug resistance, discuss their potential as biotechnological drugs, and summarize their response to therapeutic drugs and microorganism in GC.

Unravelling diagnostic clusters and immune landscapes of disulfidptosis patterns in gastric cancer through bioinformatic assay

Disulfidptosis is a novel type of cell death mediated by SLC7A11-induced disulfide stress. Gastric cancer (GC) is a common malignant gastrointestinal tumor. Existing evidence shows that SLC7A11 can regulate cell death and improve the progression of GC, suggesting disulfidptosis may exist in the pathological process of GC. However, the underlying functions of disulfidptosis regulators in GC remain unknown. The dataset of GSE54129 was screened to comprehensively investigate the disulfidptosis-related diagnostic clusters and immune landscapes in GC. Totally 15 significant disulfidptosis regulators were identified via difference analysis between GC samples and controls. Then random forest model was utilized to assess their importance score (mean decrease Gini). Then a nomogram model was constructed, which could offer benefit to patients based on our subsequent decision curve analysis. All the included GC patients were divided into 2 disulfidptosis subgroups (clusterA and clusterB) according to the significant disulfidptosis regulators in virtue of consensus clustering analysis. The disulfidptosis score of each sample was calculated through PCA algorithms to quantify the disulfidptosis subtypes. Patients from clusterB exhibited lower disulfidptosis scores than those of patients in clusterA. In addition, we found that the cases in clusterB were closely associated with the immunity of activated CD4 T cell, etc., while clusterA was linked to immature dendritic cell, mast cell, natural killer T cell, natural killer cell, etc., which has a higher disulfidptosis score. Therefore, disulfidptosis regulators play an important role in the pathological process of GC, providing a promising marker and an immunotherapeutic strategy for future GC therapy.

Molecular Insight into Gastric Cancer Invasion-Current Status and Future Directions

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. There has been no efficient therapy for stage IV GC patients due to this disease's heterogeneity and dissemination ability. Despite the rapid advancement of molecular targeted therapies, such as HER2 and immune checkpoint inhibitors, survival of GC patients is still unsatisfactory because the understanding of the mechanism of GC progression is still incomplete. Invasion is the most important feature of GC metastasis, which causes poor mortality in patients. Recently, genomic research has critically deepened our knowledge of which gene products are dysregulated in invasive GC. Furthermore, the study of the interaction of GC cells with the tumor microenvironment has emerged as a principal subject in driving invasion and metastasis. These results are expected to provide a profound knowledge of how biological molecules are implicated in GC development. This review summarizes the advances in our current understanding of the molecular mechanism of GC invasion. We also highlight the future directions of the invasion therapeutics of GC. Compared to conventional therapy using protease or molecular inhibitors alone, multi-therapy targeting invasion plasticity may seem to be an assuring direction for the progression of novel strategies.

Deciphering STAT3 signaling potential in hepatocellular carcinoma: tumorigenesis, treatment resistance, and pharmacological significance

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered one of the greatest challenges to human life and is the most common form of liver cancer. Treatment of HCC depends on chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and immunotherapy, all of which have their own drawbacks, and patients may develop resistance to these therapies due to the aggressive behavior of HCC cells. New and effective therapies for HCC can be developed by targeting molecular signaling pathways. The expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in human cancer cells changes, and during cancer progression, the expression tends to increase. After induction of STAT3 signaling by growth factors and cytokines, STAT3 is phosphorylated and translocated to the nucleus to regulate cancer progression. The concept of the current review revolves around the expression and phosphorylation status of STAT3 in HCC, and studies show that the expression of STAT3 is high during the progression of HCC. This review addresses the function of STAT3 as an oncogenic factor in HCC, as STAT3 is able to prevent apoptosis and thus promote the progression of HCC. Moreover, STAT3 regulates both survival- and death-inducing autophagy in HCC and promotes cancer metastasis by inducing the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition, upregulation of STAT3 is associated with the occurrence of chemoresistance and radioresistance in HCC. Specifically, non-protein-coding transcripts regulate STAT3 signaling in HCC, and their inhibition by antitumor agents may affect tumor progression. In this review, all these topics are discussed in detail to provide further insight into the role of STAT3 in tumorigenesis, treatment resistance, and pharmacological regulation of HCC.