The treatment of colon cancer (CC) with chemotherapeutics presents significant burden for the patients due to high toxicity and relatively low response. The present review introduces recent updates on global incidence, mortality, screen approaches and adjuvant regimens as well as medicinal plant extracts and their marker compounds as adjuvants for CC. We present the cellular mechanisms and pathways that promote metastasis of CC cells and their colonization in the liver and lungs. This review describes a regulatory loop between the Wnt, Myc, and long non-coding RNAs in promoting metastasis of CC cells. It also identifies the anticancer effects of promising natural compounds mainly on CC cell lines, tumor-bearing animal models and in a clinical trial. This review describes the mechanisms of action of promising polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenes, and alkaloids in the modulation of the metastasis of CC cells to the liver and lung. We also present promising natural compounds that target the Wnt signaling and its target genes in CC. We report few animal and human clinical trials on natural compounds that are evaluated for mitigating CC. The relevance of natural compounds as an adjuvant in monotherapy or combination therapy of CC is discussed. Overall, we provide an overview of natural compounds in CC therapy with future directions.
Colon cancer (CC) is the third most common cancer diagnosed worldwide, making it a serious global challenge. Metastasis is mainly responsible for high mortality in CC patients. In CC patients, a mutation in Kirsten rat sarcoma (KRAS), adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), and tumor protein 53 (TP53) mainly drives the metastasis, mediates drug resistance, and promotes tumor recurrence by maintaining stem cell phenotype. Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were reported to mediate KRAS-, APC-, and TP53-dependent CC progression and metastasis. In the present review, we have discussed the current updates on lncRNAs dependent on KRAS, APC, and TP53 in CC progression and metastasis. We also presented current trends in targeted therapies, immune therapies, redox-based therapies, and phytochemical-based therapies for CC. Finally, nanosystems for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents, which limit drug resistance and drug toxicities, were discussed. Therefore, targeted therapeutics can be used for CC treatment at the clinical stage.
Lung cancer (LC) represents a global threat, being the deadliest tumor worldwide. A new hope comes from the immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), a novel therapeutic approach which reactivates the immune system against the cancer cells. ICIs are antibodies targeting the immune checkpoints and triggering T cells to actively recognize and eliminate malignant cells. Despite their demonstrated efficacy within a portion of LC patients, ICIs show some limitations. One is the potential development of resistance to therapy and tumor recurrence over time. The second one consists in the potential manifestation of immune-related adverse events which can be severe or even fatal. The research is currently working at a fast pace to identify novel biomarkers to tackle LC patients who may truly benefit from ICI-based therapy. Among the proposed source of biomarkers, lung and gut microbiota are currently studied. In this review, all of the up-to-date knowledge concerning the relationship occurring between the airways/gastrointestinal microbiota and LC genesis, development, as well as response to ICIs is discussed in depth. The current preclinical and clinical evidence support two main considerations: (1) The microbiota might be a suitable source of novel diagnostic and prognostic LC biomarkers and (2) The microbiota modulation can be a powerful therapeutic strategy to improve the efficacy of ICIs in LC patients. Overall, the microbiota populating the lungs and the intestine represent a novel valuable weapon against LC.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly lethal and aggressive subtype of breast cancer (BC). A unique molecular signature, lack of specific targets, and the hostile tumor microenvironment make TNBC less responsive to existing chemotherapeutics. Recent studies have extensively reported long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as critical mediators of cellular and molecular mechanisms of BC development and metastasis. They regulate genes at transcrip-tional, post-transcriptional, and translational levels by targeting key molecules and signaling mechanisms. This review aims to present oncogenic lncRNAs as promising targets of BC therapy. It primarily updated the current knowledge of the biology, types, and biogenesis of lncRNAs. This study used a combination of cancer stem cells and BCs, lncRNAs and BC development, lncRNAs and BC metastasis, lncRNAs, and targeted therapeutics as key words to retrieve the literature from Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar from 2015-2021. This review includes studies on the expression, diagnostic and prognostic importance, clinical trials, meta-analysis regarding lncRNAs and BC and excludes all abstracts and conference proceedings. We also present the association of lncRNAs and cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer and their functional roles in BC development. The molecular mechanisms of major oncogenic lncRNAs H19, HOTAIR, and MALAT1 in BC metastasis and their targeting strategies using plant-derived natural compounds, small-molecule drugs, and RNA interference molecules are summarized. This review provides novel ideas for the development of targeted therapeutics for anti-lncRNA therapy of BC.
