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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jan 15, 2026; 18(1): 112630
Published online Jan 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i1.112630
Published online Jan 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i1.112630
Right patient approach to experimental stromal cell therapies for gastrointestinal tumors
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
Revised: August 30, 2025
Accepted: November 18, 2025
Published online: January 15, 2026
Processing time: 163 Days and 16.4 Hours
Core Tip
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.