Fahmy Sherif Ashraf, Dawoud Alyaa, Zeinelabdeen Yousra Ahmed, Kiriacos Caroline Joseph, Daniel Kerolos Ashraf, Eltahtawy Omar, Abdelhalim Miriam Mokhtar, Braoudaki Maria, Youness Rana A
Chemistry Department, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire Hosted by Global Academic Foundation, R5 New Capital City, Cairo 11835, Egypt.
Molecular Genetics Research Team (MGRT), Pharmaceutical Biology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, German University in Cairo, Cairo 11835, Egypt.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Oct 26;14(21):5244. doi: 10.3390/cancers14215244.
Pediatric primary brain tumors represent a real challenge in the oncology arena. Besides the psychosocial burden, brain tumors are considered one of the most difficult-to-treat malignancies due to their sophisticated cellular and molecular pathophysiology. Notwithstanding the advances in research and the substantial efforts to develop a suitable therapy, a full understanding of the molecular pathways involved in primary brain tumors is still demanded. On the other hand, the physiological nature of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits the efficiency of many available treatments, including molecular therapeutic approaches. Hydrogen Sulfide (HS), as a member of the gasotransmitters family, and its synthesizing machinery have represented promising molecular targets for plentiful cancer types. However, its role in primary brain tumors, generally, and pediatric types, particularly, is barely investigated. In this review, the authors shed the light on the novel role of hydrogen sulfide (HS) as a prominent player in pediatric brain tumor pathophysiology and its potential as a therapeutic avenue for brain tumors. In addition, the review also focuses on the challenges and opportunities of several molecular targeting approaches and proposes promising brain-delivery strategies for the sake of achieving better therapeutic results for brain tumor patients.
小儿原发性脑肿瘤是肿瘤学领域的一项真正挑战。除了社会心理负担外，由于其复杂的细胞和分子病理生理学，脑肿瘤被认为是最难治疗的恶性肿瘤之一。尽管研究取得了进展，并且为开发合适的治疗方法付出了巨大努力，但仍需要全面了解原发性脑肿瘤所涉及的分子途径。另一方面，血脑屏障（BBB）的生理特性限制了许多现有治疗方法的效率，包括分子治疗方法。硫化氢（HS）作为气体信号分子家族的一员，其合成机制已成为多种癌症类型有前景的分子靶点。然而，其在原发性脑肿瘤，尤其是小儿脑肿瘤中的作用几乎未被研究。在这篇综述中，作者阐述了硫化氢（HS）在小儿脑肿瘤病理生理学中作为重要角色的新作用及其作为脑肿瘤治疗途径的潜力。此外，该综述还关注了几种分子靶向方法的挑战和机遇，并提出了有前景的脑递送策略，以期为脑肿瘤患者取得更好的治疗效果。
