ALK in Cancer: Lessons from the Future (2nd Edition)
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Pathophysiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1018
Special Issue Editors
2. National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
3. Translational Lung Research Center, German Center for Lung Research (DZL) at Heidelberg University Hospital, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Interests: targeted therapies; molecular stratification of NSCLC; lung cancer immunology; liquid biopsies; experimental immunotherapies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: protein kinases; cell cycle; oncogenic gene fusions; structural biology; Myc
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Within the exciting and rapidly evolving field of thoracic oncology, ALK+ disease is playing a model role for several important and inter-related reasons: it has the most favourable biology, with a tumour mutational burden uniquely below 3 mut/MB on average; the largest number and highest efficacy of targeted drugs; the most complex management; and the longest survival, currently exceeding a median of 5 years. Consequently, ALK+ NSCLC has also become a premium testing ground for novel concepts and cutting-edge tools destined to shape the future of cancer medicine; it is involved in baseline molecular risk stratification, disease monitoring using serial liquid biopsies, the availability of targeted next-line therapies for all patients, genetic profiling, and tailoring the treatment of acquired resistance in the majority of cases. The purpose of this Special Issue is to recapitulate recent achievements, outline current challenges, and highlight prospects for the future. Its scope includes all aspects of instrumental importance for a better understanding and management of ALK+ malignancies. While its focus is on ALK+ lung cancer, preclinical studies on ALK+ biology and insights from other ALK+ diseases are very welcome to broaden our horizons and carry the field further. The ongoing advancement of third-generation ALK inhibitors in the first line, the commencing of clinical trials for fourth-generation inhibitors, accumulating evidence about the clinical importance of fusion variants and co-mutations, and the ongoing development of next-generation immunotherapeutics to overcome the inherently immunosuppressive ALK+ tumour microenvironment are only a few examples of topics where contributions to this Special Issue could enrich the current literature on this less common but most impressive lung cancer subtype.
Dr. Petros Christopoulos
Prof. Dr. Richard Bayliss
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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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
- ALK inhibitors
- ALK fusion variants
- TP53 mutations
- immunotherapy
- liquid biopsies
- disease monitoring
- therapeutic sequencing
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