Immunobiology of Solid Cancers: Cellular and Molecular Pathways as Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets
1Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
3University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
Immunobiology of Solid Cancers: Cellular and Molecular Pathways as Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets
Description
During the last three decades, research in tumor biology and tumor immunology has revealed identity and functions of cells and molecules involved in the pathways of tumor rejection through the intervention of the immune system. Different types of immune cells have been identified to be able to prevent tumorigenesis and tumor progression by killing immunogenic tumor cells, a phenomenon called “immunosurveillance.” During this process, tumors able to modify antigens to display reduced immunogenicity or enhanced immunosuppressive activity may evade immunosurveillance and progress. After years of experiments and clinical studies, the aim of harnessing the immune system to fight cancer has recently led scientists to collect enough clinical data to show what a potent weapon immunotherapy can be. Data on surprising recoveries and long progression-free intervals are increasingly available regarding patients addressed to immunotherapy treatments. Despite this success, only a percentage of cancer types and cancer patients respond to immunotherapy. Understanding the reason why this occur is a pivotal challenge of our time and, in order to solve this question, basic science is crucial: To clarify how cancer cells and immune cells interact with each other within the tumor microenvironment and elucidate the mechanisms through which patient and/or tumor mutational pattern impacts the response to treatments is the way to pursue for improving efficacy of current therapies and promoting new anticancer strategies.
We invite investigators to contribute to this special issue reporting recent findings in the field of cancer immunology and/or describing new biological and molecular evidence on the relationship between cancer and immune system as well as cancer and immunotherapy. This special issue is open to both original research papers and review articles.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Identification of TAAs (Tumor Associated Antigens) in solid cancers and their relationship with the immune system
- Basic studies on present or potential immunotherapeutic strategies
- Checkpoint inhibitors
- Tumor microenvironment after chemo- and/or radiotherapy
- Human microbiome and cancer
- Solid cancer behaviour in immunodeficient hosts