Vescio F, Curcio S, Aquila I, Ammendola M, Tarallo AP. Right patient approach to experimental stromal cell therapies for gastrointestinal tumors. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(1): 112630 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i1.112630]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Michele Ammendola, MD, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Digestive Surgery Unit, University "Magna Graecia" Medical School, University Hospital "R. Dulbecco", Viale Europa, Catanzaro 88100, Italy. michele.ammendola@unicz.it
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
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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/
Jan 15, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 12, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
ISSN
1948-5204
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Vescio F, Curcio S, Aquila I, Ammendola M, Tarallo AP. Right patient approach to experimental stromal cell therapies for gastrointestinal tumors. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(1): 112630 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i1.112630]
Francesca Vescio, Silvia Curcio, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, General Surgery Unit, University "Magna Graecia" Medical School, University Hospital "R. Dulbecco", Catanzaro 88100, Italy
Isabella Aquila, Alessandro Pasquale Tarallo, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Legal Medicine, University "Magna Graecia" Medical School, University Hospital "R. Dulbecco", Catanzaro 88100, Italy
Michele Ammendola, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Digestive Surgery Unit, University "Magna Graecia" Medical School, University Hospital "R. Dulbecco", Catanzaro 88100, Italy
Author contributions: Vescio F, Curcio S, and Tarallo AP contributed equally to the manuscript writing and performed the bibliographic search; Aquila I revised the final paper; Ammendola M conceptualized the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Michele Ammendola, MD, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Digestive Surgery Unit, University "Magna Graecia" Medical School, University Hospital "R. Dulbecco", Viale Europa, Catanzaro 88100, Italy. michele.ammendola@unicz.it
Received: August 6, 2025 Revised: August 30, 2025 Accepted: November 18, 2025 Published online: January 15, 2026 Processing time: 163 Days and 16.4 Hours
Abstract
Experimental therapies targeting immune and stromal cells, such as mast cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, dendritic cells, and tumor endothelial cells, in the treatment of gastrointestinal solid tumors pose new and complex surgical and medico-legal challenges. These innovative treatments require that informed consent not be limited to simple acceptance of the medical procedure, but instead reflect a true relational and cognitive process grounded in understanding, free choice, and the ability to revoke consent at any time. In particular, it is essential that the patient understands the experimental nature of the therapy, its development stage, potential benefits and risks, as well as the implications for their health and personal dignity. In the case of stromal cell-based treatments, which may exert complex immunomodulatory effects or activate angiogenic pathways that are not yet fully understood, patients must be made fully aware that they are participating in a non-standardized therapy whose outcomes, whether beneficial or harmful, cannot yet be predicted with certainty. This requires particularly careful medical communication, using simple yet scientifically accurate explanations delivered in appropriate language, along with a final verification of the patient’s actual understanding.
Core Tip: Experimental therapies targeting immune stromal cells in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors pose surgical and medico-legal challenges. Because these treatments are innovative, the patient's informed consent must reflect a genuinely relational and cognitive process grounded in understanding and free choice. It is essential that the patient understand the experimental nature of the therapy, the potential benefits and risks, as well as the implications for their health and personal dignity. Furthermore, when a patient participates in a non-standardized treatment, they must be informed that the outcomes, whether positive or negative, are not yet known with certainty.
