Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery

Dear Colleagues,

The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) is a complex and dynamic ecosystem comprising cancer cells, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), myeloid cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), endothelial cells, and the extracellular matrix (ECM). These components engage in multifaceted, bidirectional crosstalk that ultimately shapes tumor progression, immune evasion, and resistance to therapy. Despite remarkable advances in immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), CAR-T cell therapies, and adoptive TIL transfer, a substantial proportion of patients fail to mount durable responses, largely due to the immunosuppressive architecture of the TIME.

Recent breakthroughs have highlighted the key mechanisms underlying immune exclusion and suppression within the TIME, including the roles of regulatory T cells (Tregs), MDSCs, exhausted CD8⁺ T cells, and dysfunctional dendritic cells. Simultaneously, next-generation drug discovery platforms, from 3D organoid co-culture models and tumor microtissues to spatial transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing, are enabling the unprecedented resolution of tumor–immune interactions and accelerating the identification of actionable therapeutic targets.

This Special Issue invites the submission of original research articles, reviews, and communications that investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the TIME, novel strategies for TIME remodeling, and the discovery and preclinical/clinical validation of anti-cancer drugs that exploit immune vulnerabilities in the TME. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: immune checkpoint pathways and co-stimulatory molecules, dendritic cell reprogramming and cancer vaccines, TME-targeted combination therapies, bone marrow microenvironment in hematologic malignancies, and emerging technologies for modeling the TIME in vitro and in vivo. We welcome contributions from basic science and translational perspectives to bridge laboratory discoveries with clinical applications.

Dr. Dilinaer Wusiman
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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