gastric cancer

Authors and Affiliations:

Irene Gullo^1,2,3,4, Patrícia Oliveira^3,4, Maria Athelogou⁵, Gilza Gonçalves^2,3,4,6, Marta L Pinto^4,7,8, Joana Carvalho^3,4, Ana Valente^3,4, Hugo Pinheiro^3,4,9, Sara Andrade^3,4,10, Gabriela M. Almeida^3,4, Ralf Huss⁵, Kakoli Das¹¹, Patrick Tan^11,12,13, José C. Machado^2,3,4, Carla Oliveira^2,3,4, Fátima Carneiro^1,2,3,4

The most common cause of Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer are germline mutations of the CDH1 gene. The vast majority of CDH1 germline alterations lead to truncated forms of E-cadherin with loss of protein function.

Authors and affiliations:

Gastric cancer is one of the most incident and deadly in the world. Helicobacter pylori infection plays a key role in the early stages of the process leading to the development of cancer. In this study, the authors show that there is a shift in the profile of the gastric microbiome from patients with chronic gastritis to patients with gastric cancer. The gastric microbiome of cancer patients is dysbiotic, presenting reduced microbial diversity, decreased abundance of H. pylori, and increased abundance of other species of bacteria.

Autores e Afiliações:

Henrique O. Duarte^1,2,3, Meritxell Balmaña^1,2, Stefan Mereiter^1,2, Hugo Osório^1,2,4, Joana Gomes^1,2 and Celso A. Reis^1,2,3,4

¹Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

²Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

Cell surface receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) play a central role in the initiation, promotion and progression of multiple human cancers, by triggering the aberrant activation of downstream signaling pathways implicated in malignant cell phenotype and behavior. In particular, overexpression of the human epidermal growth factor 2 (ErbB2) RTK constitutes a well-established molecular driver of carcinogenesis. RTK maturation is tightly regulated by protein N-linked glycosylation.

Authors and Affiliations:

Soraia Melo ^1,2,3, Joana Figueiredo ^1,2, Maria Sofia Fernandes ^1,2,4, Margarida Gonçalves ^1,5, Eurico Morais-de-Sá ^1,5, João Miguel Sanches ⁴ and Raquel Seruca ^1,2,3

¹ Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

² Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto (IPATIMUP), 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

Authors and Affiliations:

A collaboration between researchers from Ipatimup/i3S, INEB/i3S and Universidade de Aveiro  led to the development of a novel photoimmunoconjugate of porphyrin conjugated to trastuzumab that specifically and efficiently eliminates HER2+ gastric cancer cells following photodynamic therapy in vitro and in vivo (when compared to trastuzumab alone).

This study suggests that, in the setting of human disease, repetitive cycles of Trast:Porph photoimmunotherapy may improve treatment of HER2+ gastric cancer patients.

Authors and Affiliations:

Authors and affiliations:
Joana Ribeiro^a,b,1, Mariana Malta^b,c,1, Ana Galaghar^d, Fernanda Silva^d, Luís Pedro Afonso^d, Rui Medeiros^b,c,e,f, Hugo Sousa^b,e

¹Joint first authors

^a Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernani Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal

^b Molecular Oncology & Viral Pathology Group, IPO-Porto Research Center (CI-IPOP), Portugal