From Molecular Genomics and the Tumor Microenvironment to Precision Diagnosis and Therapy in Liver Cancer
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 703
Editors
2. State Key Laboratory of Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Interests: liver cancer; cancer genomics; bioinformatics; HBV; single-cell and spatial transcriptomics; computational biology; immunotherapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. State Key Laboratory of Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Interests: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); tumor initiating cells (TICs); translational aspects for liver cancer treatment; liquid biopsy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Liver cancer is a leading fatal human cancer. It is known to have a high degree of heterogeneity, leading to frequent treatment resistance and disease recurrence. There are only a limited number of treatment options, and they are not adequately effective. There is an accumulation of various molecular alterations that pinpoint key signaling pathways or biological processes throughout the hepatocarcinogenesis process. On the other hand, the tumor microenvironment (TME) in liver cancer consists of a complex network of cancer cells, immune cells (such as T cells, MDSCs, and TAMs), fibroblasts, blood vessels, and extracellular matrix components. It is often immunosuppressive, promoting tumor growth, invasion, and resistance to therapy. Key features such as hypoxia, angiogenesis, and chronic inflammation also modulate the TME. Immunotherapies and targeted treatments aim to reprogram the different components of the TME, but their dynamic nature poses challenges for providing effective and durable therapeutic actions. Understanding TME interactions is crucial for developing more effective liver cancer therapeutics.
This Special Issue will focus on various niche areas that cover the basic as well as translational aspects of liver cancer research. We invite papers that involve basic methodology/algorithm development, data mining, mechanistic delineation, experimental exploration, biomarker discovery and evaluation, as well as preclinical investigation of therapeutic agents.
Possible areas include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Tumor heterogeneity;
- Molecular landscape;
- Cancer genomics;
- Tumor microenvironment;
- Liver cancer stem cell;
- Animal models;
- Liquid biopsy;
- Biomarkers;
- Diagnostics;
- Treatment and resistance;
- Emerging therapeutic agents.
Dr. Daniel Wai Hung Ho
Dr. Yuman Tsui
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized 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
- tumor heterogeneity
- cancer genomics
- sequencing
- molecular landscapes
- tumor microenvironment
- cancer stem cell
- liquid biopsy
- diagnostics
- biomarker
- treatment and resistance
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