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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2017; 23(10): 1758-1763
Published online Mar 14, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i10.1758
Ghrelin and gastrointestinal stromal tumors
Chang-Zhen Zhu, Dong Liu, Wei-Ming Kang, Jian-Chun Yu, Zhi-Qiang Ma, Xin Ye, Kang Li
Chang-Zhen Zhu, Dong Liu, Wei-Ming Kang, Jian-Chun Yu, Zhi-Qiang Ma, Xin Ye, Kang Li, Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Author contributions: Zhu CZ and Liu D performed the majority of the writing and prepared the figures; Zhu CZ, Ma ZQ and Ye X performed the data acquisition and writing; Zhu CZ, Liu D and Li K provided input in writing the paper; Zhu CZ, Kang WM and Yu JC designed the outline and coordinated the writing of the paper.
Supported by the Capital Health Research and Development of Special Fund, No. 2014-3-4014.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest related to this study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Wei-Ming Kang, MD, Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, No. 1 Shuai Fu Yuan, Dong Cheng District, Beijing 100730, China. kangweiming@163.com
Telephone: +86-10-69152215 Fax: +86-10-69152213
Received: September 27, 2016
Peer-review started: September 28, 2016
First decision: October 10, 2016
Revised: November 28, 2016
Accepted: January 11, 2017
Article in press: January 11, 2017
Published online: March 14, 2017
Processing time: 167 Days and 2.6 Hours
Abstract

Ghrelin, as a kind of multifunctional protein polypeptide, is mainly produced in the fundus of the stomach and can promote occurrence and development of many tumors, including gastrointestinal tumors, which has been proved by the relevant researches. Most gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs, about 80%), as the most common mesenchymal tumor, also develop in the fundus. Scientific research has confirmed that ghrelin, its receptors and mRNA respectively can be found in GISTs, which demonstrated the existence of a ghrelin autocrine/paracrine loop in GIST tissues. However, no reports to date have specified the mechanism whether ghrelin can promote the occurrence and development of GISTs. Studies of pulmonary artery endothelial cells in a low-oxygen environment and cardiac muscle cells in an ischemic environment have shown that ghrelin can activate the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) signaling pathway. Moreover, some studies of GISTs have confirmed that activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway can indeed promote the growth and progression of GISTs. Whether ghrelin is involved in the development or progression of GISTs through certain pathways remains unknown. Can we find a new target for the treatment of GISTs? This review explores and summaries the relationship among ghrelin, the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and the development of GISTs.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor; PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway; Ghrelin; Occurrence; Development

Core tip: Ghrelin has been proven to promote the occurrence and development of gastrointestinal tumors. Some gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) express ghrelin and its receptors. However, no previous reports have specified whether ghrelin is involved in the occurrence and development of GISTs. Through a review of the literature, this paper is the first to summarize and discuss the correlation between ghrelin and GISTs.