The Functions and Mechanisms of Microenvironment in Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

Recent cancer research has undergone rapid development in new therapeutic strategies and efficacious treatments in the oncology realm. Traditional cancer treatments such as radiation, cytoreductive surgery and classic chemotherapy are not successful in eradicating disease for the majority of patients, especially for those who present at advanced stages. The cancer microenvironment has thus rightfully garnered much attention due to the promotion of tumor growth, metastasis, and chemoresistance in variable cancer types.

Chemoresistant cancer cells often prime and change the surrounding cellular microenvironment, such as fibroblasts, stem cells and microphages, allowing it to become pro-tumorigenic cells that support tumor propagation and eventually become the premetastatic niche. In fact, an accumulating number of research studies expose the cancer microenvironment as a critical player in aiding tumor propagation, metastasis, and chemoresistance, leading to the failure of current healthcare cancer treatments. Therefore, the discovery of new functions and mechanisms that control and manipulate the cancer microenvironment is of particular interest in the control of and fight against cancer metastasis and the response of metastatic disease to chemotherapy. We are calling for the scientific community to develop novel treatment strategies that can maintain a balance between treating aggressive cancer disease and improving health and quality of life for cancer patients.

This Special Issue of Biomolecules aims to introduce and discuss novel functions and mechanisms that control the microenvironment in cancer and revoke its ability to support cancer propagation and fast-developing chemoresistance and metastasis.

Dr. Olga Ostrovsky
Guest Editor

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