World J Clin Cases. 2025 Jul 26;13(21):105066. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i21.105066.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)-based liquid biopsy has been found to be effective for the detection of minimal residual disease and the evaluation of prognostic risk in various solid tumors, with good sensitivity and specificity for identifying patients at high risk of recurrence. However, use of its results as a biomarker for guiding the treatment and predicting the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has not been reported.

CASE SUMMARY: In this case study of a patient with stage IVb NPC, we utilized ctDNA as an independent biomarker to guide treatment. Chemotherapy was administered in the early stages of the disease, and local intensity-modulated radiation therapy was added when the patient tested positive for ctDNA, while radiation therapy was stopped and the patient was observed when the ctDNA test was negative. During the follow-up period, ctDNA signals became positive before tumor progression and became negative again at the end of treatment. We also explored the potential of ctDNA in combination with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA status to predict the prognosis of NPC patients, as well as the criteria for selecting genetic mutations and the testing cycle for ctDNA analysis.

CONCLUSION: The results of ctDNA-based liquid biopsy can serve as an independent biomarker, either independently or in conjunction with EBV DNA status, to guide the treatment and predict the prognosis of NPC.

PMID:40726932 | PMC:PMC12068179 | DOI:10.12998/wjcc.v13.i21.105066

J Cancer. 2025 Jan 13;16(4):1243-1263. doi: 10.7150/jca.104424. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

Background: This study aimed to investigate glycogen metabolism in gastric cancer (GC) and develop a glycogen-based riskScore model for predicting GC prognosis. Methods: Patients' expression profiles for 33 tumor types were retrieved from TCGA. Four GC bulk and one single-cell sequencing datasets were obtained from GEO database. This study also enrolled a bladder urothelial carcinoma immunotherapeutic IMvigor210 cohort. The ssGSEA method was conducted to assess glycogen biosynthesis and degradation level. Consensus clustering analysis was conducted to identify different clusters. A glycogen riskScore signature was developed to evaluate prognostic value across different cohorts. Besides, in vitro experiments were conducted to further evaluate the role of glycogen metabolism related genes in GC. Results: Both glycogen biosynthesis and degradation were significantly associated with worse overall survival and were also related with malignant phenotype in GC at both bulk and single-cell levels. Differential outcomes and immune functions were verified in the three identified clusters. The constructed glycogen riskScore model accurately classified GC patients with different outcomes, genomic and immune landscape, and performed well in predicting prognosis through external validation, immunotherapy and pan-cancer cohorts. Furthermore, the riskScore could predict response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Functional analyses revealed the signature's connection to pro-tumor and immunosuppression related pathways across pan-cancer. Additionally, glycogen metabolism related genes were found to regulate the malignant phenotypes of GC cells. Conclusion: This study revealed important roles of glycogen metabolism in promoting progression of GC and presented a glycogen riskScore model as a novel tool for predicting prognosis and treatment response.

PMID:39895799 | PMC:PMC11786036 | DOI:10.7150/jca.104424