3D In Vitro Modeling for the Study of Epithelial Cancers
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Methods and Technologies Development".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editor
Interests: stem cells; 3D culture models; tissue engineering; carcinogenesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The rapid evolution of 3D models in cancer research continues to transform how we study tumor biology, develop new therapeutics, and advance personalized medicine. This Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge innovations in the development and application of 3D systems, including organoids, spheroids, bioprinted tissues, and microfluidic platforms, to investigate epithelial cancers.
These advanced models bridge the gap between traditional 2D cultures and in vivo studies by more accurately replicating the complex tumor microenvironment, including cancer stem cell dynamics, extracellular matrix architecture, and cell competition. Contributions made to this Special Issue should explore novel bioengineering strategies, including patient-derived organoids for precision oncology, scaffold-based systems for modeling tumor invasion and metastasis, and advanced imaging techniques for the real-time tracking of cancer cell behavior.
Ultimately, this Special Issue aims to inspire biomedical researchers, clinicians, bioengineers, and industry leaders to harness the full potential of interdisciplinary approaches that integrate stem cell-derived 3D models for cancer research. These models are expected to drive deeper insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, tumor heterogeneity, and therapeutic resistance and accelerate the advancement of next-generation early diagnostics and individualized treatments.
Prof. Dr. Sherif M. Karam
Guest Editor
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
- 3D cancer model
- 3D cancer stem cell culture
- 3D tumor invasion model
- cancer-on-a-chip
- cancer spheroids
- carcinogenesis organoid model
- bioprinted cancer tissue
- microfluidic platform for cancer
- scaffold-based cancer model
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