Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: It has long been recognized that host factors and exposures play important roles in cancer etiology. However, with the exception of sex hormone–sensitive cancers (such as breast and prostate cancers), there has been less appreciation of the potential these factors have to influence the clinical course of cancer. Ongoing research in both basic and clinical areas has provided increasingly convincing evidence that these host-related factors may be critical determinants of prognosis and treatment efficacy in patients with established cancer. Our goal in this issue ofJournalofClinicalOncology is to update readers with current evidence that links host factors to cancer outcomes, to encourage additional research designed to understand the mechanisms of host-tumor interactions, and to identify areas where sufficient evidence exists that clinical intervention or intervention research is warranted. The authors of the 11 articles included in this issue 1-11 address a variety of types of host-tumor interactions—including tumor-stroma, tumor-marrow or tumor–immune system, tumor-endocrine, tumorgermline, and germline-treatment interactions—providing evidence of their potential roles in human cancer. The relative importance of these interactions appears to vary both across and within tumor types, and some interactions are better characterized than others. In some areas, evidence in established cancer is nascent, and the authors extrapolate from evidence related to cancer risk. 4,9 A few interactions have immediate clinical implications, and the clinical relevance of many other factors is expected to grow as new data become available. For example, the observation that never-smokers with non–small-cell lung cancer have a significantly greater likelihood of benefit from epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (eg, erlotinib or gefitinib) 12 has had clinical practice– changing implications
Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology
Language: English
Topic: Cancer Cells and Metastasis
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2155261249