About this Research Topic

Background

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide with a poor overall survival ratio in patients. GC can start from any part of the stomach and can cause different types of symptoms and different outcomes. It is the fourth most common cancer in men and the seventh most common cancer in women.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway has been implicated as one of the most complex cellular pathways involved in the progression of GC by promoting cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis. Similarly, the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is also known to promote GC tumor progression through numerous mechanisms of action. These include apoptosis inhibition and evasion, resistance to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted therapy, development of drug resistance, angiogenesis and metastasis.
This Research Topic is focused on the identification of novel compounds derived from natural products or synthetic compounds exhibiting strong anti-cancer properties with particular emphasis on the pathways discussed earlier. Within this framework, we will also consider known drugs and compounds that the authors have identified as novel inhibitors of the major pathways involved in GC. We welcome submissions for manuscripts that include:

- Extracting, isolating, synthesizing, and identifying compounds from naturally derived sources.
- Synthetic development, drug design, and drug discovery possessing anti-cancer properties.
- Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation, and other bioinformatic analysis and tools.
- We will also consider plant extracts that have performed NMR and HPLC analysis and have shown strong anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo.
- Inhibition of MAPK or PI3K pathways and the immune modulatory effects and responses to immune checkpoints.
- Inhibition of immune checkpoint proteins such as PD-L1/L2, PD1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors
- Toxicity studies of the derived anti-cancer drugs in vitro and in vivo

All the manuscripts submitted to the collection will need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version here).). We also expect that the MS follow the standards established in the

Keywords: gastric cancer, natural products, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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