Tumor-Derived Exosomes: Emerging Biomarkers for the Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Disease Monitoring of Metastatic Gastrointestinal Cancers

Gastrointestinal cancers (GICs) are among the most prevalent malignancies worldwide and represent a major cause of cancer-related mortality due to their high metastatic potential. Despite remarkable advances in biomedical technologies, the development of effective and clinically applicable diagnostic approaches has not kept pace with these innovations. Consequently, there remains an urgent need for accurate, sensitive, and non-invasive biomarkers for the early detection and monitoring of these malignancies. Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles secreted by most cell types, particularly cancer cells, and carry a diverse array of biomolecules, including proteins, lipids, DNA, messenger RNA (mRNA), and microRNAs (miRNAs), which reflect the molecular characteristics of their cells of origin. Because exosomes are abundantly present in various biological fluids, such as blood, urine, and saliva, they can be readily isolated through minimally invasive procedures. Their remarkable stability, dynamic monitoring capability, and relative tumor specificity have established exosomes as one of the most promising biomarkers in liquid biopsy for the early diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers and the prediction of metastatic initiation and progression. This review summarizes the latest evidence regarding cancer-derived exosomes (CDEs) in gastrointestinal cancers. The primary focus is on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying exosome-mediated metastasis and evaluating the potential of CDEs as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, as well as promising therapeutic targets, for the clinical management of metastatic gastrointestinal cancers.

کلیدواژه ها:

Exosomes ، Metastasis ، Biomarker ، Gastrointestinal cancer