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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1520306
This article is part of the Research Topic Novel Molecular Targets in Cancer Therapy View all 9 articles

ADVANCES AND CURRENT CONCEPTS ON EPH RECEPTORS AND EPHRINS IN UPPER DIGESTIVE TRACT CANCERS

Provisionally accepted
Luccas Lavareze Luccas Lavareze 1Talita de Carvalho Kimura Talita de Carvalho Kimura 1João Figueira Scarini João Figueira Scarini 1Reydson Alcides de Lima-Souza Reydson Alcides de Lima-Souza 1Moisés Willian Aparecido Gonçalves Moisés Willian Aparecido Gonçalves 1,2Raisa Sales de Sá Raisa Sales de Sá 1Iara Gonçalves Aquino Iara Gonçalves Aquino 1Patricia Maria Fernandes Patricia Maria Fernandes 1Fernanda Cristina Poscai Ribeiro Fernanda Cristina Poscai Ribeiro 3Albina Altemani Albina Altemani 1Fernanda Viviane Mariano Fernanda Viviane Mariano 1Gary Chris Fillmore Gary Chris Fillmore 4Erika Said Abu Egal Erika Said Abu Egal 4*
  • 1 State University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2 Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Piracicaba, Brazil
  • 3 University of Western São Paulo, Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • 4 Biorepository and Molecular Pathology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) receptors comprise the largest group of surface receptors and are responsible for cellular signals. Eph/ephrin signaling has been identified to play a role in key cancer development and progression processes, especially in the upper gastrointestinal tract. The Eph/ephrin system has been described as a tumor suppressor in duodenal cancer, while in esophageal, gastric, hepatic, and pancreatic cancer, the system has been related to tumor progression. For their significant role in developing a wide range of malignancies, Eph receptors and their ligands have proven to be an important target for new anticancer therapies. In this review, we present an overview of the literature and highlight evidence supporting the role of the Eph/ephrin system in upper digestive tract cancers. In addition, we discuss molecular findings that represent promising therapeutic targets for these cancers.

    Keywords: Eph, gastric cancer, target therapy, Upper gastrointestinal, ephrin

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 17 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lavareze, Kimura, Scarini, de Lima-Souza, Gonçalves, de Sá, Aquino, Fernandes, Ribeiro, Altemani, Mariano, Fillmore and Egal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Erika Said Abu Egal, Biorepository and Molecular Pathology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84103, Utah, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.