Advances in the Theranostics of Oesophageal Squamous Carcinoma

Oesophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal human malignancies, and it is a more aggressive form of oesophageal cancer (EC) that comprises over 90% of all EC cases in China compared with oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). The high mortality of ESCC is attributed to the late-stage diagnosis, chemoradiotherapy resistance, and lack of appropriate therapeutic targets and corresponding therapeutic formulations. Recently, emerging clinical and translational investigations have involved genome analyses, diagnostic biomarkers, and targeted therapy for ESCC, and these studies provide a new horizon for improving the clinical outcomes of patients with ESCC. Here, the latest research advances in the theranostics of ESCC are reviewed and the unique features of ESCC (including differences from EAC, genomic alterations, and microbe infections), tissue and circulating biomarkers, chemoradiotherapy resistance, clinical targeted therapy for ESCC, identification of novel therapeutic targets, and designation of nanotherapeutic systems for ESCC are particularly focused on. Finally, the perspectives for future clinical and translational theranostic research of ESCC are discussed and the obstacles that must be overcome in ESCC theranostics are described.