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. 2022 May 27;23(11):6040.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23116040.

Tissue-Based Markers as a Tool to Assess Response to Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy in Rectal Cancer-Systematic Review

Edgaras Smolskas  1 , Goda Mikulskytė  2 , Ernestas Sileika  3 , Kestutis Suziedelis  4   5 , Audrius Dulskas  2   4
Affiliations

Tissue-Based Markers as a Tool to Assess Response to Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy in Rectal Cancer-Systematic Review

Edgaras Smolskas et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

According to current guidelines, the current treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer is neoadjuvant therapy, followed by a total mesorectal excision. However, radiosensitivity tends to differ among patients due to tumor heterogeneity, making it difficult to predict the possible outcomes of the neoadjuvant therapy. This review aims to investigate different types of tissue-based biomarkers and their capability of predicting tumor response to neoadjuvant therapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. We identified 169 abstracts in NCBI PubMed, selected 48 reports considered to meet inclusion criteria and performed this systematic review. Multiple classes of molecular biomarkers, such as proteins, DNA, micro-RNA or tumor immune microenvironment, were studied as potential predictors for rectal cancer response; nonetheless, no literature to date has provided enough sufficient evidence for any of them to be introduced into clinical practice.

Keywords: micro-RNA; neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy; radiosensitivity markers; rectal cancer; tumor immune microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart describing the identification and inclusion of studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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