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Novel methods for predicting treatment response in gastric cancer patients and for improving early detection are among the advances reported recently:
The protein-coding gene prolyl 4-hydroxylase subunit alpha 3 (P4HA3) may be useful in predicting how well gastric cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy, a study published in Nature Scientific Reports revealed. P4HA3 expression is strongly correlated with immune checkpoints, immune infiltrating cells and more, suggesting that it could be a valuable immune-related biomarker in the treatment of gastric cancer, the researchers said.
A trial in Taiwan found that participants who had H. pylori testing along with a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) to detect colorectal cancer had significantly lower rates of gastric cancer than did people who had FIT alone. Because H. pylori is known to contribute to gastric cancer, detecting and eradicating it in the patients who had the test may have prevented the disease, they noted in the study, which was published in JAMA.
Korean researchers used 3D-bioprinted tissues to mimic the environment surrounding gastric cancer cells and to predict patients’ responses to treatments. When they made patient-specific models and tested drugs with them, they generated similar results to what had been seen in clinical trials involving those patients, they reported in Advanced Functional Materials. They believe the approach could be used to personalize treatments for patients with gastric cancer.
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