Crosstalk Mechanisms in Liver Cancer Microenvironments
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Tumor Microenvironment".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 17
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue, titled “Crosstalk Mechanisms in Liver Cancer Microenvironments”, will highlight the mechanistic roles of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in the development of liver cancer, including but not limited to hepatocellular carcinoma. Accumulating evidence indicates that the TME regulates tumor pathophysiology, including tumor progression, metastasis, and response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Since liver cancers are the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, partially due to their poor response to treatment, elucidating the underlying mechanisms is extremely important for developing more efficient treatments and improving the prognosis of patients.
The various types of immune (e.g., macrophages, lymphocytes), vascular (e.g., liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, arterial cells), mesenchymal (e.g., hepatic stellate cells, fibroblasts), and epithelial populations (e.g., hepatocytes, cholangiocytes) cooperatively create a unique microenvironment around liver cancer. Recent advances in multiomics technologies, such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, have enabled a comprehensive understanding of the cellular landscape of the microenvironment. However, how these populations cooperatively regulate tumor cell behavior remains incompletely understood. We need more mechanistic insight into how TME-composing cells and cancer cells cooperate through molecular interactions, including cytokines, hormones, metabolites, extracellular matrices, extracellular vesicles, and neuronal interactions.
We welcome all studies, from basic to translational research, that shed light on mechanisms of crosstalk in the liver tumor microenvironment and contribute to the development of more effective treatments.
Dr. Michitaka Matsuda
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF)
- tumor-associated macrophage (TAM)
- tumor immune microenvironment (TIME)
- fibrosis
- extracellular matrix
- metabolism
- miRNA
- microbiota
- spatial transcriptome
- angiogenesis
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