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Gene Regulation and Targeted Therapy in Gastric Cancer Peritoneal Metastasis: Radiological Findings from Dual Energy CT and PET/CT
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Mechanotransduction Failure and Molecular Rescue in Gastric Cancer: Kinetotherapy Across the

Stefan Oprea1,2,3, Adrian Vasile Dumitru1,3,4, Dan Dumitrescu1

  • 1Faculty of General Medicine, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania.

Medical Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 27, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Gastric cancer muscle wasting involves complex signaling disruptions. Exercise (kinesitherapy) may help by modulating inflammation and improving muscle function.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular and molecular biology
  • Physiology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Muscle wasting (sarcopenia) is a significant complication of gastric cancer.
  • It involves complex, multifactorial disruptions including inflammation, anabolic resistance, and impaired cellular signaling.
  • Existing research often focuses on individual pathways, lacking a unifying framework.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize current evidence on the cellular and physiological mechanisms of skeletal muscle dysfunction in gastric cancer.
  • To provide a unifying systems-biology framework centered on loss of signaling coherence.
  • To explore kinesitherapy as a potential non-pharmacological intervention.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review synthesizing evidence on key signaling pathways.
  • Examination of inflammatory signaling (IL-6/STAT3, NF-κB).
  • Analysis of anabolic pathways (myostatin-activin-ACVR2B-SMAD, PI3K/Akt/mTOR).
  • Inclusion of mechanotransduction, excitation-metabolism coupling, calcium homeostasis, mitochondrial function, and proteostasis.

Main Results:

  • Evidence suggests interacting positive feedback loops among inflammation, anabolic resistance, impaired mechanotransduction, mitochondrial stress, and disrupted proteostasis.
  • These disruptions contribute to metabolic, structural, and transcriptional instability in skeletal muscle.
  • Muscle wasting in gastric cancer reflects a loss of functional integrity due to disrupted signal integration.

Conclusions:

  • Muscle wasting in gastric cancer is a systems disorder characterized by loss of signaling coherence.
  • Kinesitherapy (exercise) is proposed as a non-pharmacological strategy to modulate inflammation, improve anabolic sensitivity, and restore muscle function.
  • Further investigation into exercise-based therapies for gastric cancer-associated muscle wasting is warranted.
Keywords:
PI3K/Akt/mTORcalcium signalingcancer cachexiagastric cancerkinetotherapymechanotransductionmitochondrial dysfunctionmyostatin

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