Scientific Publications

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a deadly cancer with no clinically ideal biomarkers for early diagnosis. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a user-friendly diagnostic tool for early ESCC detection.

• Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-024-02781-w

Vitamin K3 (VK3), a fat-soluble synthetic analog of the vitamin K family, has coagulant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anticancer properties. Pseudo allergy is a IgE-independent immune response associated with mast cells. This study investigated the role of VK3 in IgE-independent mast cell activation.

• Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1567576924010117?via%3Dihub

Camptothecin (CPT), a pentacyclic alkaloid with antitumor properties, is derived from the Camptotheca acuminata. Topotecan and irinotecan (CPT derivatives) were first approved by the Food and Drug Administration for cancer treatment over 25 years ago and remain key anticancer drugs today. However, their use is often limited by clinical toxicity. Despite extensive development efforts, many of these derivatives have not succeeded clinically, particularly in their effectiveness against pancreatic cancer which remains modest.

• Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045206824003419

The purpose of this study was to identify biomarkers associated with hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HBV-HCC) and to develop a new combination with good diagnostic performance. This study was divided into four phases: discovery, verification, validation, and modeling. A total of four candidate tumor-associated autoantibodies (TAAb; anti-ZIC2, anti-PCNA, anti-CDC37L1, and anti-DUSP6) were identified by human proteome microarray (52 samples) and bioinformatics analysis. Subsequently, these candidate TAAbs were further confirmed by indirect ELISA with two testing cohorts (120 samples for verification and 663 samples for validation).

• Link: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerpreventionresearch/article-abstract/17/5/227/743164/Combination-of-an-Autoantibody-Panel-and-Alpha?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Therapeutic cancer vaccines aim to stimulate the immune system by utilizing tumor antigens to trigger an antitumor response. In our clinical trials, we have focused on evaluating the efficacy of the breast cancer cell line secreting GM-CSF, SV-BR-1-GM as a therapeutic vaccine, and we have observed encouraging clinical outcomes. The SV-BR-1-GM regimen has been used alone (“monotherapy”, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03066947 – study completed) and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (“combination”, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03328026 – study ongoing).

• Link: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/84/9_Supplement/PO2-13-06/744554/Abstract-PO2-13-06-Analysis-of-Antibody-Response

Chemoimmunotherapy has evolved as a standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC). However, inevitable drug resistance has limited its efficacy, highlighting the urgent need for biomarkers of chemoimmunotherapy. A three-phase strategy to discover, verify, and validate longitudinal predictive autoantibodies (AAbs) for aNSCLC before and after chemoimmunotherapy was employed. A total of 528 plasma samples from 267 aNSCLC patients before and after anti-PD1 immunotherapy were collected, plus 30 independent formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples.

• Link: https://www.mcponline.org/article/S1535-9476(24)00039-2/fulltext#%20

P21 activated kinase 6 (PAK6) is a serine-threonine kinase with physiological expression enriched in the brain and overexpressed in a number of human tumors. While the role of PAK6 in cancer cells has been extensively investigated, the physiological function of the kinase in the context of brain cells is poorly understood. Our previous work uncovered a link between PAK6 and the Parkinson’s disease (PD)-associated kinase LRRK2, with PAK6 controlling LRRK2 activity and subcellular localization via phosphorylation of 14-3-3 proteins.

• Link: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.11.589075v1

Double cortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) exhibits high expression levels across various cancers, notably in human colorectal cancer (CRC). Diacerein, a clinically approved interleukin (IL)-1β inhibitor for osteoarthritis treatment, was evaluated for its impact on CRC proliferation and migration, alongside its underlying mechanisms, through both in vitro and in vivo analyses. The study employed MTT assay, colony formation, wound healing, transwell assays, flow cytometry, and Hoechst 33342 staining to assess cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis.

• Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1875536424606217?via%3Dihub

Treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) thyroiditis/thyrotoxicosis and hypothyroidism occur in up to 40% of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Conventional autoimmune thyroiditis autoantibodies (AutoAbs) (thyroglobulin (TG); thyroid peroxidase (TPO)) do not predict these TEAEs. We previously reported that pretreatment serum AutoAb profiles were associated with all severe TEAEs for melanoma patients treated with ICIs. Herein, we test if pre-existing AutoAbs could predict ICI induced hypothyroidism (TEAE ThyDis).

• Link: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/84/6_Supplement/1186/737440/Abstract-1186-Moving-beyond-conventional

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is one of the most common skin cancers in urgent need of effective drugs. Echinatin, a natural compound extracted from Glycyrrhiza plants, exhibited promising anti-tumor effects. However, the efficacy and direct target of Echinatin in cSCC remain unclear.

• Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4745961