Implication of stem cells in the biology and therapy of head and neck cancer

Nano Meets Micro-Translational Nanotechnology in Medicine: Nano-Based Applications for Early Tumor Detection and Therapy

Nanomaterials have great potential for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells of solid tumor origin entering the peripheral blood after detachment from a primary tumor. The occurrence and circulation of CTCs are accepted as a prerequisite for the formation of metastases, which is the major cause of cancer-associated deaths. Due to their clinical significance CTCs are intensively discussed to be used as liquid biopsy for early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. However, there are substantial challenges for the clinical use of CTCs based on their extreme rarity and heterogeneous biology. Therefore, methods for effective isolation and detection of CTCs are urgently needed. With the rapid development of nanotechnology and its wide applications in the biomedical field, researchers have designed various nano-sized systems with the capability of CTCs detection, isolation, and CTCs-targeted cancer therapy. In the present review, we summarize the underlying mechanisms of CTC-associated tumor metastasis, and give detailed information about the unique properties of CTCs that can be harnessed for their effective analytical detection and enrichment. Furthermore, we want to give an overview of representative nano-systems for CTC isolation, and highlight recent achievements in microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies. We also emphasize the recent advances in nano-based CTCs-targeted cancer therapy. We conclude by critically discussing recent CTC-based nano-systems with high therapeutic and diagnostic potential as well as their biocompatibility as a practical example of applied nanotechnology.

Is small smarter? Nanomaterial-based detection and elimination of circulating tumor cells: current knowledge and perspectives

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are disseminated cancer cells. The occurrence and circulation of CTCs seem key for metastasis, still the major cause of cancer-associated deaths. As such, CTCs are investigated as predictive biomarkers. However, due to their rarity and heterogeneous biology, CTCs’ practical use has not made it into the clinical routine. Clearly, methods for the effective isolation and reliable detection of CTCs are urgently needed. With the development of nanotechnology, various nanosystems for CTC isolation and enrichment and CTC-targeted cancer therapy have been designed. Here, we summarize the relationship between CTCs and tumor metastasis, and describe CTCs’ unique properties hampering their effective enrichment. We comment on nanotechnology-based systems for CTC isolation and recent achievements in microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies. We discuss recent advances in CTC-targeted cancer therapy exploiting the unique properties of nanomaterials. We conclude by introducing developments in CTC-directed nanosystems and other advanced technologies currently in (pre)clinical research.

The role of piRNA and its potential clinical implications in cancer

Epigenetic mechanisms work in an orchestrated fashion to control gene expression in both homeostasis and diseases. Among small noncoding RNAs, piRNAs seem to meet the necessary requirements to be included in this epigenetic network due to their role in both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. piRNAs and PIWI proteins might play important roles in cancer occurrence, prognosis and treatment as reported previously. Nevertheless, the potential clinical relevance of these molecules has yet been elucidated. A brief overview of piRNA biogenesis and their potential roles as part of an epigenetic network that is possibly involved in cancer is provided. Moreover, potential strategies based on the use of piRNAs and PIWI proteins as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as for cancer therapeutics are discussed.