Sistema Gastrointestinal e Digestivo

Abstrato

Claudins, Inflammation and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Gastric Tissue

Rendon-Huerta E, Chavarria-Velazquez CO and Montaño LF

Gastric cancer is a serious worldwide health burden. It is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer with an estimated 1 million new cases per year. The disease is often diagnosed in advanced stages and is associated with a poor prognosis for patients. It exhibits heterogeneity in clinical, biologic, and genetic aspects. Although H. pylori is the best studied risk factor, interleukins associated with chronic inflammation, disruption of tight junctions especially claudins, MERK/ERK signaling pathways and cancer stem cells have key roles in carcinogenesis and progression. An in-depth understanding of the role that inflammation and modified tight junction proteins play in epithelial-mesenchymal transition may improve our understanding of the cancer process and lead to the recognition of new biomarkers for early diagnosis, and possibly, improved therapeutics.