2023-10-27 18:00:29
By 2030, it is estimated that pancreatic cancer will be the second leading cause of deaths from malignant tumors in the world.
Although there are several clinical and surgical interventions, the five-year survival rate is less than 10%.
A new technique based on cfDNA technology indicates cancer recurrence and organ rejection after liver transplant.
One of the most recent innovations against gastrointestinal cancer is liver transplant. This is one of the most important advances that have been achieved and the ultimate objective is to avoid fatal cases of this disease, which has increased its incidence in recent years due to changes in lifestyle.
Firstly, it is estimated that one in every six deaths that occur in the world is due to tumors. While by 2030 it is estimated that the pancreatic cancer It will be the second leading cause of deaths from malignant tumors. Although there are several clinical and surgical interventions, the current five-year survival rate is less than 10%.
New advances against cancer
Dr. Maen Abdelrahim, Gastrointestinal Oncologist at Hospital Houston Methodist, discusses the implications of transplant oncology and has treated patients with malignancies of both the upper and lower gastrointestinal systems, as well as those treated with liver transplantation. Thanks to the cell-free DNA (cfDNA) detection technologytransplant oncology has the potential to eliminate certain types of cancer, which is revolutionary.
CfDNA is a technology that refers to extracellular DNA released from cells through necrosis or secretion, which can detect disease or tumor burden. Patients with liver cancer can undergo transplantation and such technology can indicate the presence of post-transplant cancer.
Benefits of liver transplant in cancer patients
A very important point is that at the moment this technique cannot be used for the diagnosis of Liver cancer but it is useful to indicate the recurrence of neoplasia and organ rejection after transplantation.
The success of transplant oncology depends on efficient monitoring of tumor burden before and after transplant, as well as identification of rejection of the transplanted organ and/or cancer recurrence.
Dr. Abdelrahim has been using cfDNA detection technology at Houston Methodist Hospital for the past three years. In his practice, patients are monitored for cancer recurrence through cfDNA detection technology every 4-6 months after transplant and for up to 5 years. Patients have shown a very promising five-year survival rate of 85%. Another important aspect of transplant oncology is the use of immunotherapy before transplants. liver transplants.
“We have demonstrated the safety and durability of using immunotherapy before liver transplants in a small retrospective population of patients. We are currently in the process of expanding and validating these results in a prospective clinical trial. Interestingly, the 5-year survival of liver cancer patients who received a liver transplant is 85%, while the same without a liver transplant (for patients who leave the waiting list) is only 10%. % or even less.”
Dr. Abdelrahim has focused on identifying agents that can modulate the functions of certain pro-oncogenic factors to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapies for pancreatic cancer and other types of tumors. New mechanism-based drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers are on the horizon.
Despite significant improvements in therapeutics for gastrointestinal malignancies over the past decade, there is still an urgent need for improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Research efforts have contributed to advances in this direction and additional discoveries of precise molecular targeted drugs are expected in the near future that may improve gastrointestinal prognosis and alleviate the burden of these diseases in the world.
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