DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for signet ring cell carcinoma — screening already-approved drugs against its 2-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleSignet ring cell carcinoma maps to a 2-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for signet ring cell carcinoma is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
ALK receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) — ALK is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet apo structuredrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 7NX3 · 2.81 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a cohort of 182 rectal cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) using capecitabine and radiotherapy, 131 (72%) proceeded to surgery. Signet ring cell morphology was a major determinant of operability and, on multivariate analysis, strongly influenced overall survival (P=0.03). At a median follow-up of 42 months, 5-year disease-free survival was 60% and overall survival 77% for the operated group. The authors note that signet ring cell tumours appeared in younger patients with poor survival and call for prospective evaluation of more intense chemoradiotherapy and aggressive surgical resection.
A case report of signet ring cell carcinoma of the prostate describes a Japanese man who received estramustine, docetaxel, and carboplatin combination chemotherapy, followed by TS-1 and CPT-11 combination therapy. The disease progressed, and he died of general metastatic disease after 16 months of systemic chemotherapy.
A separate case report describes an early-stage signet ring cell carcinoma of the colon detected by magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging and crystal violet staining. The lesion was removed en bloc by endoscopic submucosal dissection; the tumour was mixed with moderately and well-differentiated adenocarcinoma components, infiltrated 250 μm into the submucosa, and involved lymphatic vessels. An additional laparoscopic ileocecal resection found no residual carcinoma or lymph node metastasis.
No prospective trial has yet evaluated a specific drug regimen for signet ring cell carcinoma of the rectum or colon. The available evidence consists of retrospective subgroup analyses and single case reports. What is missing is a dedicated prospective trial with sufficient sample size, uniform treatment protocol, and stratification by signet ring cell histology.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
PubMed · 2015 · 19 citations · open access
Factors influencing response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation and outcomes in rectal cancer patients: tertiary Indian cancer hospital experience.
AbstractBACKGROUND: In the treatment of rectal cancers several randomized trials have demonstrated benefits of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) in downstaging as well as survival among these patients. We investigated the patient and tumor related variables dictating the outcomes in these patients. METHODS: Biopsy proven treatment naive 182 rectal cancer patients underwent NACRT from June 2006 to December 2010. The entire patients received long course conventionally fractionated external beam radiotherapy with concurrent oral Capecitabine. At 6 weeks from completion of NACRT clinico-radiological assessment was carried out for surgical feasibility. All patients were given postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy either single agent or multi drug regimen depending upon biopsy report. RESULTS: Among 182 patients, 131 (72%) underwent surgery and initial T stage and signet ring cell morphology were major determinant of operability. Among the 131 operated patients at median follow up of 36 months, 94 (72%) are alive and disease free. With a median follow up of 42 months the 5-year disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was 60% and 77%. The majority of the failures were distal but with more advanced disease at presentation both local and distal failures were similar. While assessing survival by multivariate analysis patients having positive nodes post-surgery had a significantly poorer DFS (P=0.001), while signet ring cell morphology and pre-treatment carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) levels strongly influenced OS (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of our patients were similar to World Literature and signet ring cell morphology, pre-treatment CEA level, and pathological nodal staging all were influential in determining survival. Besides this, the study also highlights the fact that tumours with signet ring cell morphology appearing in younger population with poor survival needs prospective evaluation for more intense CRT regimen and aggressive surgical resections.
Case Reports in Oncology · 2011 · 11 citations · open access
An Aggressive Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Prostate in a Japanese Man
AbstractSignet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) of the prostate is rare, with approximately 100 case reports to date. Here we report a very aggressive case of SRCC of the prostate in a Japanese man. The patient received estramustine, docetaxel, and carboplatin combination chemotherapy, followed by TS-1 and CPT-11 combination therapy. Unfortunately, the disease progressed, and he died of general metastatic disease treated over 16 month with systemic chemotherapy.
BMC Gastroenterology · 2015 · 10 citations · open access
Early stage signet ring cell carcinoma of the colon examined by magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging: a case report
AbstractBACKGROUND: Signet ring cell carcinoma of the colon and rectum is rare, and most cases are detected at an advanced stage. We present a case of primary signet ring cell carcinoma detected at an early stage by magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (NBI) and crystal violet staining. CASE PRESENTATION: A 73-year-old man visited our hospital for screening colonoscopy. Six years previously, he had undergone endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer. The pathological diagnosis was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, invading into the mucosa without lymphovascular invasion. Colonoscopy revealed a flat elevated lesion with a slightly depressed area, 20 mm in diameter, in the cecum. Further, magnifying endoscopy with NBI revealed that the surface pattern was slightly irregular and microvessels had a regular diameter and distribution in the margin of the lesion, but in the central part of the lesion, irregularity in the tumor surface pattern and form as well as in the diameter and distribution of microvessels was noted. Additionally, due to mucus, avascular areas were also observed. Magnifying endoscopy combined with 0.05 % crystal violet staining showed IIIL and VI pit patterns in the margin of the lesion, and a VI pit pattern in the central part of the lesion; however, due to mucus exudate, this finding could not be established with certainty. The lesion was successfully removed en bloc using ESD without complications. The tumor was composed mainly of signet ring cell carcinoma, partially mixed with moderately differentiated (tub2) and well-differentiated (tub1) adenocarcinomas. The tumor cells infiltrated 250 μm into the submucosal layer and involved lymphatic vessels. Therefore, the patient underwent an additional laparoscopic ileocecal resection, and the resected specimen revealed no residual carcinoma or lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION: In this case report, we present a case of primary signet ring cell carcinoma detected at an early stage and identified by magnifying endoscopy with NBI and crystal violet staining.
Ultrastructural cytochemical study of enzymes expressed by signet ring cells in gastric cancer.
AbstractAIM: To study the ultrastructural localization of five marker enzymes (ALPase, ACPase, G6Pase, TPPase and CCOase) in gastric cancer signet ring cells to demonstrate their biologic behaviors. METHODS: Five marker enzymes were examined in signet ring cells of seven gastric cancer patients by ultrastructural enzyme cytochemical techniques. RESULTS: The number of corresponding organelles and the activities of marker enzymes, especially ACPase and TPPase, increased, leading to stronger mucus synthesis, secretion and digestion in gastric cancer signet ring cells. There was a lack of collagenous fibers in the stroma around the cancer nests. CONCLUSION: Signet ring cell carcinoma is very invasive with metastasis rates due to the secretion of proteolytic enzymes.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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