T Cells in Cancer: From Effectors to Regulators and Therapeutic Targeting
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 174
Editor
Interests: molecular biology; cancer; cell line; cell culture; flow cytometry analysis; Western blotting; gene expression; sequencing; proteomics; seminoma cell line; prostate cancer cell lines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
T cells represent central mediators of adaptive immunity and play a crucial role in the recognition and elimination of cancer cells. Over the past decade, significant advances have expanded our understanding of T cell biology, revealing their remarkable functional plasticity, ranging from potent cytotoxic effectors to highly specialized regulatory subsets.
In the context of cancer, T cells play a dual role. While cytotoxic CD8⁺ T cells are essential for antitumor immunity, regulatory T cells (Tregs) and dysfunctional or exhausted T cell populations contribute to immune evasion and tumor progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) critically shapes T cell fate, thereby influencing their activation, differentiation, metabolic fitness, and effector functions.
Despite the success of immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cells, their efficacy remains limited in many solid tumors, highlighting the need to better understand the molecular mechanisms governing T cell responses and their dysregulation.
In particular, emerging evidence suggests that intracellular signaling pathways, inflammatory mediators, metabolic rewiring, and tumor-derived factors play a key role in orchestrating T cell plasticity and functional reprogramming. However, the interplay between these mechanisms and their translational implications remains incompletely defined.
This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating T cell function in cancer, with a particular focus on the transition from effector to regulatory phenotypes and on novel strategies to therapeutically modulate T cell responses.
We welcome original research articles and reviews addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:
- T cell activation, differentiation, and exhaustion in cancer;
- Regulatory T cells and immune suppression in the TME;
- Molecular signaling pathways in T cell function (e.g., NF-κB, AKT, MAPK);
- Metabolic reprogramming of T cells;
- Crosstalk between cancer cells and T cells;
- T cells in hormone-dependent cancers;
- Novel immunotherapeutic strategies targeting T cells;
- Combination therapies and pharmacological modulation of T cell activity.
By integrating basic, translational, and clinical research, this Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of T cell biology and to support the development of more effective cancer immunotherapies. Particular attention will be paid to studies investigating the interplay between the oncogenic signaling network and T cell function in cancer.
Dr. Sabrina Bossio
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- T-cell in cancer
- tumor microenvironment (TME)
- T cell exhaustion
- oncogenic signaling pathways
- cancer immunotherapy
- immunometabolism
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