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Immune Biomarkers in Solid Tumors: From Peripheral Blood Parameters to...
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Immune Biomarkers in Solid Tumors: From Peripheral Blood Parameters to Tissue-Based Indicators for Prognosis and Therapy Response

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Biomarkers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 April 2026 | Viewed by 1462

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ioannis P. Trontzas

E-Mail
Guest Editor
3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Sotiria General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Interests: cancer; lung cancer; immunotherapy; cancer biomarkers
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Syrigos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Sotiria Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, 11527 Athens, Greece
Interests: cancer; lung cancer; immunotherapy; immune-related adverse events
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The tumor microenvironment and systemic immune responses play critical roles in the progression, prognosis, and therapeutic response of solid malignancies. In recent years, the evaluation of peripheral blood immune parameters—such as immune cell subsets, cytokines, and soluble markers—has gained prominence as a minimally invasive approach to guide clinical decision-making. Concurrently, tissue-based immune biomarkers, including immune checkpoint molecules like PD-L1, have become integral components of predictive and prognostic models across a range of solid tumors.

This Special Issue aims to highlight advances in the identification, validation, and clinical implementation of both circulating and histological immune biomarkers. We welcome original research, reviews, and perspectives focusing on the prognostic value, predictive utility, and mechanistic insights of immune biomarkers, with particular interest in studies that bridge systemic and tumor-localized immune profiling to optimize therapeutic strategies in solid tumors.

Dr. Ioannis P. Trontzas
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Syrigos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • immune biomarkers
  • solid tumors
  • peripheral blood immune parameters
  • circulating immune cells
  • cytokines
  • tissue-based biomarkers
  • immune checkpoint molecules
  • prognostic biomarkers
  • predictive biomarkers
  • tumor microenvironment
  • immunotherapy response
  • translational oncology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1297 KB  
Article
Pancreatic Cancer and Benign Pancreatic Cystic Lesions: Differences in Cytokines, Growth Factors, and Immunological Markers Concentrations in Serum and Cystic Fluid
by Ewa Grudzińska, Paweł Szmigiel, Karolina Majewska, Sławomir Mrowiec and Zenon P. Czuba
Cancers 2025, 17(17), 2783; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17172783 - 26 Aug 2025
Viewed by 440
Abstract
Background: Pancreatic cystic lesions may be benign and require observation or cancerous, with high mortality, requiring risky surgery. Diagnosis is often difficult, and the search for biomarkers to differentiate pancreatic cancer from other lesions is ongoing. Methods: 60 consecutive patients, operated on due [...] Read more.
Background: Pancreatic cystic lesions may be benign and require observation or cancerous, with high mortality, requiring risky surgery. Diagnosis is often difficult, and the search for biomarkers to differentiate pancreatic cancer from other lesions is ongoing. Methods: 60 consecutive patients, operated on due to histopathologically confirmed pancreatic cancer or due to pancreatic cystic lesions, were analyzed. The concentrations of 16 immunological factors (sHER-2neu, sEGFR, sIL-6Ra, follistatin, FGF-basic, sVEGFR-2, PECAM-1, PDGF-AB BB, prolactin, G-CSF, HGF, sTIE-2, SCF, sVEGFR-1, osteopontin, and leptin) were assessed in both serum and cystic fluid and compared between the groups. Results: Lower PDGF-AB/BB and leptin concentrations in serum, as well as lower sTIE-2, osteopontin, and leptin levels, were associated with cancer. In cystic tumors, for some factors, significant differences between cancerous and benign lesions were found when the differences in cystic fluid and serum concentrations were compared. Conclusions: PDGF-AB/BB, leptin, sTIE-2, and osteopontin, as well as the comparison of serum/cystic fluid concentrations of immunological factors, might be useful for pancreatic cystic tumor diagnosis. However, this requires confirmation in a larger study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Biomarkers in Solid Tumors: From Peripheral Blood Parameters to Tissue-Based Indicators for Prognosis and Therapy Response)
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Review

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19 pages, 965 KB  
Review
Immune Biomarkers for Checkpoint Blockade in Solid Tumors: Transitioning from Tissue to Peripheral Blood Monitoring and Future Integrated Strategies
by Ioannis P. Trontzas and Konstantinos N. Syrigos
Cancers 2025, 17(16), 2639; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17162639 - 13 Aug 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 770
Abstract
Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors has changed the treatment landscape in many solid tumors. Despite the unprecedent success, many patients will develop primary or secondary resistance to treatment or will hold up therapy due to the emerging immune-related toxicity. Traditionally, tissue-based immune biomarkers, [...] Read more.
Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors has changed the treatment landscape in many solid tumors. Despite the unprecedent success, many patients will develop primary or secondary resistance to treatment or will hold up therapy due to the emerging immune-related toxicity. Traditionally, tissue-based immune biomarkers, such as PD-L1 expression, have been used to select patients who will benefit most from immunotherapy. However, these markers demonstrate major limitations, such as tumor heterogeneity and sample constraints. In addition, they do not reflect the dynamic interplay of tumor and hosts immune response during treatment. Peripheral blood immunomarkers offer a minimally invasive, real-time assessment of the immune system and its interaction with the tumor. Integration of traditional tissue-based and peripheral blood markers coupled with the recent developments in computational platforms, artificial intelligence, and machine learning models may provide more successful biomarkers for prognosis, prediction of immunotherapy-related outcomes, the early evaluation of forthcoming disease progression, and the prediction of the emerging immune-related adverse events. Despite the promising developments in the field of immune biomarkers, several issues including assay standardization, clinical validation, and biological variability should be addressed to improve personalized immunotherapy approaches. In this comprehensive review we provide an update on immune biomarker evolution, and we discuss the current limitations and future directions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immune Biomarkers in Solid Tumors: From Peripheral Blood Parameters to Tissue-Based Indicators for Prognosis and Therapy Response)
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