The gut microbiota significantly influences cancer immunotherapy efficacy by modulating immune responses, remodeling the tumor microenvironment (TME), and producing key metabolites. Strategies such as FMT, probiotics, and dietary interventions show promise in enhancing responses to ICIs and ACTs while reducing immune-related adverse events (irAEs). This review summarizes clinical and preclinical findings and discusses microbiota-based interventions and future directions for precision immunotherapy.

Gastric cancer presents substantial management challenges, and the advent of immunotherapy has ignited renewed hope among patients. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of patients do not respond to immunotherapy, and adverse events associated with immunotherapy also occur on occasion, underscoring the imperative to identify suitable candidates for treatment. Several biomarkers, including programmed death ligand-1 expression, tumor mutation burden, mismatch repair status, Epstein–Barr Virus infection, circulating tumor DNA, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, have demonstrated potential in predicting the effectiveness of immunotherapy in gastric cancer. However, the quest for the optimal predictive biomarker for gastric cancer immunotherapy remains challenging, as each biomarker carries its own limitations. Recently, multi-omics technologies have emerged as promising platforms for discovering novel biomarkers that may help in selecting gastric cancer patients likely to respond to immunotherapy. The identification of reliable predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy in gastric cancer holds the promise of enhancing patient selection and improving treatment outcomes. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of clinically established biomarkers of immunotherapy in gastric cancer. Additionally, we introduce newly reported biomarkers based on multi-omics studies in the context of gastric cancer immunotherapy, thereby contributing to the ongoing efforts to refine patient stratification and treatment strategies.

Cancer vaccines, crucial in the immunotherapeutic landscape, are bifurcated into preventive and therapeutic types, both integral to combating oncogenesis. Preventive cancer vaccines, like those against HPV and HBV, reduce the incidence of virus-associated cancers, while therapeutic cancer vaccines aim to activate dendritic cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes for durable anti-tumor immunity. Recent advancements in vaccine platforms, such as synthetic peptides, mRNA, DNA, cellular, and nano-vaccines, have enhanced antigen presentation and immune activation. Despite the US Food and Drug Administration approval for several vaccines, the full therapeutic potential remains unrealized due to challenges such as antigen selection, tumor-mediated immunosuppression, and optimization of delivery systems. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the aims and implications of preventive and therapeutic cancer vaccine, the innovative discovery of neoantigens enhancing vaccine specificity, and the latest strides in vaccine delivery platforms. It also critically evaluates the role of adjuvants in enhancing immunogenicity and mitigating the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The review further examines the synergistic potential of combining cancer vaccines with other therapies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors, to improve therapeutic outcomes. Overcoming barriers such as effective antigen identification, immunosuppressive microenvironments, and adverse effects is critical for advancing vaccine development. By addressing these challenges, cancer vaccines can offer significant improvements in patient outcomes and broaden the scope of personalized cancer immunotherapy.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have revolutionized cancer therapy, but therapeutic resistance poses a significant barrier to sustained efficacy. Multiple mechanisms contribute to ADCs resistance, including drug efflux mediated by transporters, alterations in target antigens, tumor heterogeneity, and the impact of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Clinically, ADCs resistance varies across different cancer types, treatment lines, and patient subgroups. Emerging strategies now emphasize precision targeting through bispecific ADCs, alongside advancements in linker chemistry, payload design, and TME modulation. Additionally, rational combination therapies have emerged as a promising approach to reverse ADCs resistance, demonstrating synergistic effects. This review summarizes current understanding of mechanisms driving ADCs resistance and recent advances in combination therapies. By integrating mechanistic insights with emerging strategies, we aim to provide a comprehensive framework for addressing ADCs resistance and propose future research directions. These efforts may improve the efficacy of ADCs and the outcomes of cancer patients.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major global health issue with high mortality and morbidity rates. With the advances in nanotechnology, nanoparticles are receiving increasing attention in diagnosing and treating CVD. Previous studies have explored the use of nanoparticles in noninvasive diagnostic technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Nanoparticles have been extensively studied as drug carriers and prognostic factors, demonstrating synergistic efficacy. This review summarized the current applications of nanoparticles in CVD and discussed their opportunities and challenges for further exploration.

We performed a retrospective analysis of 21 patients with primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma (PGSCC) who were admitted to our hospital from October 2008 to October 2014. The median age was 67 years and male predominance was observed, the most common tumor locations were the upper third of the stomach, most of the clinical manifestations were identical to those of other types of gastric tumors, and the tumor cells had positive immunoreactivity for p63 and CK5/6. In terms of treatments, surgery (R0 resection) is the main treatment; the effect of other treatments is unclear. The median survival time for the surgery group and nonsurgery group was 46 and 4.5 months, respectively. Probably due to limited number of cases, no significant difference in median survival time was observed between the surgery alone group and the surgery plus adjuvant therapy group (46 versus 51 months,P=0.310). A standard chemotherapy regimen for this disease has not yet been established; the choice of its chemotherapy regimens tends to follow the principle of the treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma or esophageal cancer. PGSCC generally had a poor prognosis, and early detection, early diagnosis, and early surgical treatment are beneficial to patients.