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Experimental therapeutics and drug development

This section covers all aspects of preclinical investigations on therapeutic agents. It welcomes submissions concerning anti-cancer drug discovery and development, and targeted therapies.

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  1. Preoperative chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine is considered as a standard of care for locally advanced rectal cancer. The “Tratamiento de Tumores Digestivos” group (TTD) previously reported in a randomized ...

    Authors: Ramón Salazar, Jaume Capdevila, Jose Luis Manzano, Carles Pericay, Mercedes Martínez-Villacampa, Carlos López, Ferrán Losa, María José Safont, Auxiliadora Gómez-España, Vicente Alonso-Orduña, Pilar Escudero, Javier Gallego, Beatriz García-Paredes, Amalia Palacios, Sebastiano Biondo, Cristina Grávalos…

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:1164

    Content type: Research article

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  2. Peritoneal metastasis (PM) in patients with breast (BC) and endometrial cancer (EC) is rare and treatment options are limited. Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC) has demonstrated efficacy...

    Authors: Günther A. Rezniczek, Urs Giger-Pabst, Omar Thaher and Clemens B. Tempfer

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:1122

    Content type: Research article

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  3. Breast cancer (BC) is the second most common type of cancer worldwide. Among targeted therapies for Hormone Receptor-positive (HR+) and Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2-negative (HER2−) BC, the Cyclin-Dep...

    Authors: Oliviero Marinelli, Emanuela Romagnoli, Federica Maggi, Massimo Nabissi, Consuelo Amantini, Maria Beatrice Morelli, Matteo Santoni, Nicola Battelli and Giorgio Santoni

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:1119

    Content type: Research article

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  4. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype with limited systemic treatment options. RX-5902 is a novel anti-cancer agent that inhibits phosphorylated-p68 and thus attenuates nu...

    Authors: John J. Tentler, Julie Lang, Anna Capasso, Deog Joong Kim, Ely Benaim, Young B. Lee, Andrew Eisen, Stacey M. Bagby, Sarah J. Hartman, Betelehem W. Yacob, Brian Gittleman, Todd M. Pitts, Roberta Pelanda, S. Gail Eckhardt and Jennifer R. Diamond

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:1063

    Content type: Research article

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  6. Hypoxic tumors are known to be highly resistant to radiotherapy and cause poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. CKD-516, a novel vascular disrupting agent (VDA), mainly affects blood v...

    Authors: Min-Young Kim, Jung-Young Shin, Jeong-Oh Kim, Kyoung-Hwa Son, Yeon Sil Kim, Chan Kwon Jung and Jin-Hyoung Kang

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:1057

    Content type: Research article

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  7. Both intermittent intravenous (IIV) infusion and continuous intravenous (CIV) infusion of Endostar are widely used for NSCLC in China. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of CIV of Endostar versus IIV ...

    Authors: Bo Wang, Lu Xu, Qihuan Li, Sailimai Man, Cheng Jin, Lian Liu, Siyan Zhan and Yi Ning

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:1021

    Content type: Research article

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  8. New treatment options for ovarian cancer are urgently required. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are an attractive target for therapy; repolarizing TAMs from M2 (pro-tumor) to M1 (anti-tumor) phenotypes rep...

    Authors: Alyssa A. Hoover, Demetra H. Hufnagel, Whitney Harris, Kennady Bullock, Evan B. Glass, Esther Liu, Whitney Barham, Marta A. Crispens, Dineo Khabele, Todd D. Giorgio, Andrew J. Wilson and Fiona E. Yull

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:970

    Content type: Research article

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  9. Previous studies have shown a major green tea polyphenol (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate ((−)-EGCG) as a powerful anti-cancer agent. However, its poor bioavailability and requirement of a high dosage to manifes...

    Authors: Gene Chi Wai Man, Jianzhang Wang, Yi Song, Jack Ho Wong, Yu Zhao, Tat San Lau, Kam Tong Leung, Tak Hang Chan, Huating Wang, Joseph Kwong, Tzi Bun Ng and Chi Chiu Wang

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:964

    Content type: Research article

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  10. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide with one in every five patients diagnosed with metastatic CRC (mCRC). In mCRC cases, the 5-year survival rate remai...

    Authors: Susan A. Kennedy, Maria E. Morrissey, Margaret R. Dunne, Fiona O’Connell, Clare T. Butler, Mary-Clare Cathcart, Amy M. Buckley, Brian J. Mehigan, John O. Larkin, Paul McCormick, Breandán N. Kennedy and Jacintha O’Sullivan

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:952

    Content type: Research article

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  12. Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remains a challenging disease to treat, and further improvements in prognosis are dependent upon the identification of LSCC-specific therapeutic biomarkers and/or targets. W...

    Authors: Erkhem-Ochir Bilguun, Kyoichi Kaira, Reika Kawabata-Iwakawa, Susumu Rokudai, Kimihiro Shimizu, Takehiko Yokobori, Tetsunari Oyama, Ken Shirabe and Masahiko Nishiyama

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:935

    Content type: Research article

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  13. Adjuvant gemcitabine for pancreatic cancer has limited efficacy in the clinical setting. Impaired drug metabolism is associated with treatment resistance. We aimed to evaluate the chemosensitising effect of in...

    Authors: Amber Blaauboer, Stephanie Booy, Peter M. van Koetsveld, Bas Karels, Fadime Dogan, Suzanne van Zwienen, Casper H. J. van Eijck and Leo J. Hofland

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:913

    Content type: Research article

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  14. A. oxyphylla extract is known to possess a wide range of pharmacological activites. However, the molecular mechanism of A. oxyphylla and its bioactive compound nootkatone in colorectal cancer is unknown.

    Authors: Eunsu Yoo, Jaehak Lee, Pattawika Lertpatipanpong, Junsun Ryu, Chong-Tai Kim, Eul-Yong Park and Seung Joon Baek

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:881

    Content type: Research article

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  15. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and sulindac are effective for colorectal cancer prevention in humans and some animal models, but concerns over gastro-intestinal (GI) ulceration ...

    Authors: Jennifer S. Davis, Preeti Kanikarla-Marie, Mihai Gagea, Patrick L. Yu, Dexing Fang, Manu Sebastian, Peiying Yang, Ernest Hawk, Roderick Dashwood, Lenard M. Lichtenberger, David Menter and Scott Kopetz

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:871

    Content type: Research article

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  16. Interaction between microenvironment and breast cancer cells often is not considered at the early stages of drug development leading to failure of many drugs at later clinical stages. Etanercept is a TNF-alpha...

    Authors: Elnaz Shirmohammadi, Seyed-Esmaeil Sadat Ebrahimi, Amir Farshchi and Mona Salimi

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:836

    Content type: Research article

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    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Cancer 2020 20:1126

  18. Curcumin is herbal compound that has been shown to have anti-cancer effects in pre-clinical and clinical studies. The anti-cancer effects of curcumin include inhibiting the carcinogenesis, inhibiting angiogene...

    Authors: Kamran Mansouri, Shna Rasoulpoor, Alireza Daneshkhah, Soroush Abolfathi, Nader Salari, Masoud Mohammadi, Shabnam Rasoulpoor and Shervin Shabani

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:791

    Content type: Research article

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  19. Tumors with deficient homologous repair are sensitive to PARP inhibitors such as olaparib which is known to have immunogenic properties. Durvalumab (D) is a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) which inhibits bindi...

    Authors: Jean-David Fumet, Emeric Limagne, Marion Thibaudin, Caroline Truntzer, Aurélie Bertaut, Emilie Rederstorff and Francois Ghiringhelli

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:748

    Content type: Study protocol

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  20. Breast tumor initiating cells (BTIC) are stem-like cells that initiate and sustain tumor growth, and drive disease recurrence. Identifying therapies targeting BTIC has been hindered due primarily to their scar...

    Authors: William D. Gwynne, Mirza S. Shakeel, Adele Girgis-Gabardo, Kwang H. Kim, Emily Ford, Anna Dvorkin-Gheva, Craig Aarts, Methvin Isaac, Rima Al-awar and John A. Hassell

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:724

    Content type: Research article

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  21. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous tumor having various genetic alterations. The current treatment options had limited impact on disease free survival due to therapeutic resistance. Novel anticancer ag...

    Authors: Khayal Al-Khayal, Mansoor-Ali Vaali-Mohammed, Mohammed Elwatidy, Thamer Bin Traiki, Omar Al-Obeed, Mohammad Azam, Zahid Khan, Maha Abdulla and Rehan Ahmad

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:685

    Content type: Research article

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    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Cancer 2020 20:834

  23. Tumors are heterogeneous in nature, composed of different cell populations with various mutations and/or phenotypes. Using a single drug to encounter cancer progression is generally ineffective. To improve the...

    Authors: Vanessa Bellat, Alice Verchère, Sally A. Ashe and Benedict Law

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:661

    Content type: Research article

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  24. HER2 dual-blockade combined with aromatase inhibitors (AI) is a promising strategy to improve progression-free survival (PFS) in hormone receptor (HR) positive, metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Pyrotinib is a n...

    Authors: Changjun Wang, Yan Lin, Yidong Zhou, Feng Mao, Hanjiang Zhu, Jinghong Guan, Xiaohui Zhang, Songjie Shen, Xin Huang, Chang Chen, Ru Yao, Jialin Zhao and Qiang Sun

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:653

    Content type: Study protocol

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  25. Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis and few choices of therapy. For patients with adequate performance status, FOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel are preferred first-line treatment. 5-Fluorouraci...

    Authors: Zev A. Wainberg, Kynan Feeney, Myung Ah Lee, Andrés Muñoz, Antonio Cubillo Gracián, Sara Lonardi, Baek-Yeol Ryoo, Annie Hung, Yong Lin, Johanna Bendell and J. Randolph Hecht

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:633

    Content type: Research article

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  26. Oncolytic virotherapy is an upcoming treatment option for many tumor entities. But so far, a first oncolytic virus only was approved for advanced stages of malignant melanomas. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) con...

    Authors: Linus D. Kloker, Susanne Berchtold, Irina Smirnow, Julia Beil, Andreas Krieg, Bence Sipos and Ulrich M. Lauer

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:628

    Content type: Research article

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  27. Despite an improvement of prognosis in breast and colon cancer, the outcome of the metastatic disease is still severe. Microevolution of cancer cells often leads to drug resistance and tumor-recurrence. To tar...

    Authors: Jérôme Ruhnau, Jonas Parczyk, Kerstin Danker, Britta Eickholt and Andreas Klein

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:617

    Content type: Research article

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  28. Modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) is a form of hyperthermia used in cancer treatment. mEHT has demonstrated the ability to activate host immunity by inducing the release of heat shock proteins, triggering ...

    Authors: I-Ming Kuo, Jih-Jong Lee, Yu-Shan Wang, Hsin-Chien Chiang, Cheng-Chung Huang, Pei-Jong Hsieh, Winston Han, Chiao-Hsu Ke, Albert T. C. Liao and Chen-Si Lin

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:603

    Content type: Research article

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  29. Unlike other breast cancer subtypes that may be treated with a variety of hormonal or targeted therapies, there is a need to identify new, effective targets for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). It has rec...

    Authors: Gina Sizemore, Sarah McLaughlin, Mackenzie Newman, Kathleen Brundage, Amanda Ammer, Karen Martin, Elena Pugacheva, James Coad, Malcolm D. Mattes and Han-Gang Yu

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:595

    Content type: Research article

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  30. KRAS mutations are prevalent in 40–45% of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and targeting this gene has remained elusive. Viruses are well known immune sensitizing agents. The therapeutic efficacy of oncolyti...

    Authors: Ruwan Parakrama, Elisha Fogel, Carol Chandy, Titto Augustine, Matt Coffey, Lydia Tesfa, Sanjay Goel and Radhashree Maitra

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:569

    Content type: Research article

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  31. It may be impossible to perform cancer surgery with free margins in the presence of an unresectable structure. Local drug treatment after surgery has been proposed to increase the rate of tumor control.

    Authors: Iman Al Dybiat, Alibi Baitukha, Cynthia Pimpie, Rachid Kaci, Marc Pocard, Farzaneh Arefi Khonsari and Massoud Mirshahi

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:565

    Content type: Research article

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  32. Novel biomarkers are required to discern between breast tumors that should be targeted for treatment from those that would never become clinically apparent and/or life threatening for patients. Moreover, thera...

    Authors: Catharina Hagerling, Mark Owyong, Vaishnavi Sitarama, Chih-Yang Wang, Charlene Lin, Renske J. E. van den Bijgaart, Charlotte D. Koopman, Audrey Brenot, Ankitha Nanjaraj, Fredrik Wärnberg, Karin Jirström, Ophir D. Klein, Zena Werb and Vicki Plaks

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:542

    Content type: Research article

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  33. Pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory disease represent a population with a desperate medical need. The aim of the INFORM (INdividualized Therapy FOr Relapsed Malignancies in Childhood) program is to ...

    Authors: Cornelis M. van Tilburg, Ruth Witt, Melanie Heiss, Kristian W. Pajtler, Christoph Plass, Isabel Poschke, Michael Platten, Inga Harting, Oliver Sedlaczek, Angelika Freitag, David Meyrath, Lenka Taylor, Gnana Prakash Balasubramanian, Natalie Jäger, Elke Pfaff, Barbara C. Jones…

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:523

    Content type: Study protocol

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  34. Glutamine serves as an important nutrient with many cancer types displaying glutamine dependence. Following cellular uptake glutamine is converted to glutamate in a reaction catalysed by mitochondrial glutamin...

    Authors: Dean C. Singleton, Anne-Lise Dechaume, Pamela M. Murray, William P. Katt, Bruce C. Baguley and Euphemia Y. Leung

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:470

    Content type: Research article

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  35. Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) status is an indicator of a marked risk for toxicity following fluoropyrimidine (FP)-based chemotherapy. This notion is well-established for low DPD status but little is k...

    Authors: Emmanuel Chamorey, Eric Francois, Marie-Christine Etienne, Jean-Marc Ferrero, Frederic Peyrade, Emmanuel Barranger, Alexandre Bozec, Rémy Largillier, Ophelie Cassuto, Julien Viotti, Renaud Schiappa and Gérard Milano

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:436

    Content type: Research article

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  36. Anti-tumor effects of radiation therapy (RT) largely depend on host immune function. Adenosine with its strong immunosuppressive properties is an important immune checkpoint molecule.

    Authors: Hidenori Tsukui, Hisanaga Horie, Koji Koinuma, Hideyuki Ohzawa, Yasunaru Sakuma, Yoshinori Hosoya, Hironori Yamaguchi, Kotaro Yoshimura, Alan Kawarai Lefor, Naohiro Sata and Joji Kitayama

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:411

    Content type: Research article

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  37. Chronic myeloid leukaemia is in principle a treatable malignancy but drug resistance is lowering survival. Recent drug discoveries have opened up new options for drug combinations, which is a concept used in o...

    Authors: H. Jonathan G. Lindström and Ran Friedman

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:397

    Content type: Research Article

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  38. According to GLOBOSCAN, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) claimed 782,000 lives in 2018. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sofafenib is used to treat HCC, but new anticancer agents targeting different pathways are ur...

    Authors: Ruey-Shyang Soong, Ravi K. Anchoori, Richard B. S. Roden, Rou-Ling Cho, Yi-Chan Chen, Sheng-Chieh Tseng, Yun-Li Huang, Po-Cheng Liao and Yu-Chiau Shyu

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:386

    Content type: Research article

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  39. Modified docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (mDCF) regimen has become a new standard for the treatment of metastatic or unresectable locally advanced recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) ...

    Authors: Stefano Kim, Bruno Buecher, Thierry André, Marine Jary, François-Clément Bidard, François Ghiringhelli, Éric François, Julien Taieb, Denis Smith, Christelle de la Fouchardière, Jérôme Desramé, Emmanuelle Samalin, Aurélie Parzy, Nabil Baba-Hamed, Olivier Bouché, David Tougeron…

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:352

    Content type: Study protocol

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  40. Cancer patients often receive multiple drugs to maximize their therapeutic benefit, treat co-morbidities and counter the adverse effects of chemotherapy. Concomitant administration of multiple drugs increases ...

    Authors: Mohammad Ismail, Sehrash Khan, Fahadullah Khan, Sidra Noor, Hira Sajid, Shazia Yar and Irum Rasheed

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:335

    Content type: Research article

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  41. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The only drug currently approved for clinical use in the treatment of advanced HCC is sorafenib. However, many patients w...

    Authors: Hanhee Jo, Yusun Park, Taehun Kim, Jisu Kim, Jong Sook Lee, Seon Yoo Kim, Jee-in Chung, Hae yong Ko, Jae-Chul Pyun, Kyung Sik Kim, Misu Lee and Mijin Yun

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:332

    Content type: Research article

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  42. We investigated whether head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) reaffirm patient responses to anti-cancer therapeutics.

    Authors: Han Na Kang, Jae-Hwan Kim, A-Young Park, Jae Woo Choi, Sun Min Lim, Jinna Kim, Eun Joo Shin, Min Hee Hong, Kyoung-Ho Pyo, Mi Ran Yun, Dong Hwi Kim, Hanna Lee, Sun Och Yoon, Da Hee Kim, Young Min Park, Hyung Kwon Byeon…

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:316

    Content type: Research article

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  43. Cancer metastasis and drug resistance have traditionally been studied separately, though these two lethal pathological phenomena almost always occur concurrently. Brain metastasis occurs in a large proportion ...

    Authors: Neal Shah, Zhongwei Liu, Rachel M. Tallman, Afroz Mohammad, Samuel A. Sprowls, Pushkar A. Saralkar, Schuyler D. Vickers, Mark V. Pinti, Weimin Gao and Paul R. Lockman

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:292

    Content type: Research article

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  44. While epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) exert a breakthrough effect, the incidence of skin disorders as a side effect has significantly reduced patients’ quality of life...

    Authors: Kazumi Sano, Kazuhiko Nakadate and Kazuhiko Hanada

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:279

    Content type: Research article

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  46. Multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable despite recent therapeutic advances. RAS mutations are frequently associated with relapsed/refractory disease. Efforts to target the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MA...

    Authors: Priya Sriskandarajah, Alexis De Haven Brandon, Kenneth MacLeod, Neil O. Carragher, Vladimir Kirkin, Martin Kaiser and Steven R. Whittaker

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:269

    Content type: Research article

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  47. Clinical outcomes of patients with osteosarcoma remain unsatisfactory, with little improvement in a 5-year overall survival over the past three decades. There is a substantial need for further research and dev...

    Authors: Nut Koonrungsesomboon, Nuttapong Ngamphaiboon, Natavudh Townamchai, Pimpisa Teeyakasem, Chaiyut Charoentum, Pimlak Charoenkwan, Rungrote Natesirinilkul, Lalita Sathitsamitphong, Touch Ativitavas, Parunya Chaiyawat, Jeerawan Klangjorhor, Suradej Hongeng and Dumnoensun Pruksakorn

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:268

    Content type: Study protocol

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  48. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are an integral part of bladder cancer therapy, however, the relevance of ICI treatment for mixed and pure squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder remains poorly studied. Ther...

    Authors: Ronja Morsch, Michael Rose, Angela Maurer, Maria Angela Cassataro, Till Braunschweig, Ruth Knüchel, Thomas-Alexander Vögeli, Thorsten Ecke, Markus Eckstein, Veronika Weyerer, Irene Esposito, Maximilian Ackermann, Günter Niegisch and Nadine T. Gaisa

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:230

    Content type: Research article

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  49. Simeoni and colleagues introduced a compartmental model for tumor growth that has proved quite successful in modeling experimental therapeutic regimens in oncology. The model is based on a system of ordinary d...

    Authors: James A. Koziol, Theresa J. Falls and Jan E. Schnitzer

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:226

    Content type: Technical advance

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  50. Casein kinase II (CK2) is involved in multiple tumor-relevant signaling pathways affecting proliferation and apoptosis. CK2 is frequently upregulated in acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and can be target...

    Authors: Anna Richter, Sina Sender, Annemarie Lenz, Rico Schwarz, Burkhard Hinz, Gudrun Knuebel, Anett Sekora, Hugo Murua Escobar, Christian Junghanss and Catrin Roolf

    Citation: BMC Cancer 2020 20:184

    Content type: Research article

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