Regulatory Factors and Signaling Pathways of Anti-Tumor Immune Responses

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 October 2026 | Viewed by 628

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Guest Editor
1. Department of Pathology, Clinical Breast Cancer Project, John P. Murtha Cancer Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
2. Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20824, USA
Interests: breast cancer; targeted therapy; pan cancer; CART cell therapy; biologics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Regulatory factors and signaling pathways play a crucial role in shaping anti-tumor immune responses, a field of study central to cancer immunotherapy. While treatments like immune checkpoint blockade, vaccines, and T-cell transfer therapy have shown significant promise, their clinical success remains limited to specific cancer types and a minority of patients. This is largely due to the complex interplay of factors within the tumor microenvironment (TME) that can suppress the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. The TME contains a variety of regulatory factors and signaling molecules that can either promote or inhibit immune cell function. A deeper understanding of these intricate pathways is essential for overcoming therapeutic resistance and broadening the applicability of current immunotherapies. Consequently, current research focuses on identifying novel druggable targets and developing combination treatments to modulate these regulatory factors and enhance the body’s anti-tumor immunity. 

For this Special Issue, we invite you to contribute original research articles, reviews, or perspective articles on all aspects under the umbrella of “Regulatory Factors and Signaling Pathways of Anti-Tumor Immune Responses”. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Anti-tumor immunity;
  • Immunotherapy;
  • Immune checkpoint blockade;
  • Immune receptor and ligand;
  • Immune evasion;
  • Tumor immune microenvironment;
  • Inflammation;
  • T-cell activation and inhibition;
  • Myeloid-derived suppressor cell;
  • Macrophage;
  • Dendritic cell.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Geeta Upadhyay
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • anti-tumor immunity
  • immunotherapy
  • immune checkpoint blockade
  • immune receptor and ligand
  • immune evasion
  • tumor immune microenvironment
  • inflammation
  • T-cell activation and inhibition
  • myeloid-derived suppressor cell
  • macrophage
  • dendritic cell

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

32 pages, 10462 KB  
Review
Harnessing M1-Polarized Macrophage-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Artificial Nanovesicles for Targeted Cancer Drug Delivery
by Prakash Gangadaran, Sanjuda Subramaniyan, Ramya Lakshmi Rajendran, Chae Moon Hong, Kumari Swati, Saurabh Kumar Jha, Shazia Rashid and Byeong-Cheol Ahn
Cells 2026, 15(11), 987; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells15110987 - 27 May 2026
Viewed by 339
Abstract
Macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as promising biomimetic platforms for targeted cancer drug delivery due to their biocompatibility, immune-modulatory properties, and tumor-homing capabilities. Among macrophage subtypes, M1-polarized macrophages exhibit potent anti-tumor functions characterized by pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, improved antigen presentation, and the [...] Read more.
Macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as promising biomimetic platforms for targeted cancer drug delivery due to their biocompatibility, immune-modulatory properties, and tumor-homing capabilities. Among macrophage subtypes, M1-polarized macrophages exhibit potent anti-tumor functions characterized by pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, improved antigen presentation, and the ability to remodel the tumor microenvironment (TME). Utilizing these properties, M1-polarized macrophage-derived EVs serve as cell-free therapeutic systems capable of delivering bioactive cargo while simultaneously promoting anti-tumor immune responses. However, the clinical application of natural EVs is limited by low yield, heterogeneity, and challenges in large-scale production. Artificial nanovesicles (ANVs) have been developed to address these limitations, offering improved scalability, compositional control, and reproducibility. This review provides an overview of macrophage differentiation and polarization, with a focus on the immunological profile and anti-tumor mechanisms of M1-polarized macrophages. It further discusses current methodologies for EV isolation and ANV generation, along with cargo loading strategies that balance encapsulation efficiency and vesicle stability. In addition, this review also emphasizes their targeting approaches, cellular uptake pathways, and the intracellular trafficking mechanisms that influence delivery efficiency and therapeutic outcomes. Key challenges, including standardization, biological barriers, and functional consistency, are critically evaluated. Emerging strategies that integrate vesicle engineering with personalized medicine underscore the potential of these systems to advance precision oncology. Full article
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