title: Genomics, microRNA, epigenetics, and proteomics for future diagnosis, treatment and monitoring response in upper GI cancers.
abstract: One major objective for our evolving understanding in the treatment of cancers will be to address how a combination of diagnosis and treatment strategies can be used to integrate patient and tumor variables with an outcome-oriented approach. Such an approach, in a multimodal therapy setting, could identify those patients (1) who should undergo a defined treatment (personalized therapy) (2) in whom modifications of the multimodal therapy due to observed responses might lead to an improvement of the response and/or prognosis (individualized therapy), (3) who might not benefit from a particular toxic treatment regimen, and (4) who could be identified early on and thereby be spared the morbidity associated with such treatments. These strategies could lead in the direction of precision medicine and there is hope of integrating translational molecular data to improve cancer classifications. In order to achieve these goals, it is necessary to understand the key issues in different aspects of biotechnology to anticipate future directions of personalized and individualized diagnosis and multimodal treatment strategies. Providing an overview of translational data in cancers proved to be a challenge as different methods and techniques used to obtain molecular data are used and studies are based on different tumor entities with different tumor biology and prognoses as well as vastly different therapeutic approaches. The pros and cons of the available methodologies and the potential response data in genomics, microRNA, epigenetics and proteomics with a focus on upper gastrointestinal cancers are considered herein to allow for an understanding of where these technologies stand with respect to cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Munich, Germany. b-bruecher@gmx.de.|Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Sacramento, CA, USA. b-bruecher@gmx.de.|INCORE, International Consortium of Research Excellence of the Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Munich, Germany. b-bruecher@gmx.de.|INCORE, International Consortium of Research Excellence of the Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Sacramento, CA, USA. b-bruecher@gmx.de.|Bon Secours Cancer Institute, Richmond, VA, USA. b-bruecher@gmx.de.|Department of Surgery, Carl-Thiem-Klinikum, Cottbus, Germany. b-bruecher@gmx.de.
authors.forename: Björn L D M
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Brücher
authors.affiliation: Proteogenomics Research Institute for Systems Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University of Homburg Saar, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schnabel
authors.affiliation: Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Munich, Germany.|Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Sacramento, CA, USA.|INCORE, International Consortium of Research Excellence of the Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Munich, Germany.|INCORE, International Consortium of Research Excellence of the Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Sacramento, CA, USA.|Sylvia Lawry Center for MS Research, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daumer
authors.affiliation: Bon Secours Cancer Institute, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Carl-Thiem-Klinikum, Cottbus, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kube
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zilberstein
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.|Department of Surgery, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.affiliation: Everest Biotech Ltd., Upper Heyford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Jan L A
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Voskuil
authors.affiliation: Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Munich, Germany.|Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Sacramento, CA, USA.|INCORE, International Consortium of Research Excellence of the Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Munich, Germany.|INCORE, International Consortium of Research Excellence of the Theodor-Billroth-Academy®, Sacramento, CA, USA.|Risk-Based Decisions, Inc., Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ijaz S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Jamall
keywords: Barrett carcinoma; Epigenetics; Esophageal adenocarcinoma; Esophageal carcinoma; Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Genomics; MicroRNA; Multimodal therapy; Neoadjuvant therapy; Prognosis; Proteomics; Response; Survival; Upper gastrointestinal tract