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In the treatment of rectal cancer, the additional use of radiotherapy has changed treatment policy dramatically. Compelling data showed that preoperative radiotherapy, in addition to surgery for resectable rectal cancer, is superior to postoperative treatment. Considering evidence-based data, it is hard to understand why preoperative radiotherapy has not been accepted in the US.
In 1990, an NIH Consensus Conference recommended postoperative chemoradiotherapy as standard treatment for stage II and III rectal cancer. Many European centers and even some countries have adopted the US recommendations as standard care. In other parts of Europe, however, the jury is still out, as discussed in this Viewpoint.
Among the most intensely studied new agents are the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors. This review focuses on how radiosensitization of tumors by EGFR inhibitors may be mediated, with reference to cell proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, and DNA repair. Defining the signals involved in radiosensitization could potentially predicting response and guide approaches to combine further novel regimens.
Untangling the complex pathways underlying the major cancer phenotypes remains a significant challenge, but deregulated expression of a single multi-component enzyme, telomerase, is implicated as a causative factor for immortalization in the vast majority of human tumors. This review highlights the potential of telomerase as a target for novel cancer gene therapies.
Advances in imaging and computing technology have improved the targeting of tumor tissue using conventional X-ray therapy, especially for the treatment of childhood brain tumors. Proton radiotherapy allows better sparing of normal tissues than the most conformal photon radiation. The characteristics of this technology and examples of who would benefit most from this treatment are discussed.
High-throughput technologies have been developed in hopes of increasing the pace of biomedical research, accelerating the rate of translation from bench to bedside. Using such technology in target discovery has necessitated validation of the targets in an equally rapid manner. This review looks at the role of tissue microarrays in validating potential tumor biomarkers, now and in the future.