Novel Therapeutic Targets in Cancers: 4th Edition
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Oncology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 4
Special Issue Editor
Interests: NSCLC; SCLC; murine models; tumor microenvironment; cancer stem cells; therapy resistance; therapeutic targeting; BMI1; scRNAseq; spatial transcriptomics; single-cell interactomes; gene regulation; transcription factors; KRAS; EGFR; miRNA
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous Special Issues “Novel Therapeutic Targets in Cancers” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/Therapeutic_Targets_Cancers ); “Novel Therapeutic Targets in Cancers 2.0” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/VJC6KR93C0); and “Novel Therapeutic Targets in Cancers: 3rd Edition” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/TF6N2JWG6Y).
In recent decades, novel precision oncology protocols have been developed and are now beginning to be adopted in routine clinical practice. However, despite major advances, the goal of transforming solid tumors into a chronic disease remains unfulfilled, and long-term remission has yet to be achieved.
Starting from preclinical models (cell lines, organoids, and murine models), we can identify oncogenic pathways, mechanisms of resistance, and novel avenues to inhibit tumor growth and metastatic spread that will eventually enter clinical trials. Novel technologies—such as those capable of pinpointing the contribution of tumor heterogeneity to transformation and dissemination, as well as tumor evolution during drug response and recurrence—are poised to revolutionize cancer treatment by expanding the therapeutic arsenal at our disposal. State-of-the-art precision medicine protocols require the convergence of multiple interdisciplinary contributions, including the identification of single-cell-specific genetic and epigenetic alterations, the discovery of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, the implementation of efficient and specific diagnostic tools, the design of genomic editing protocols, and the planning of well-designed therapeutic strategies that consider the best sequential options to delay/prevent the development of recurrence.
This Special Issue welcomes original research papers as well as concise review manuscripts from experts in these relevant fields. The Issue is supervised by Dr. Elena Levantini, assisted by our Topical Advisory Panel Member Dr. Giorgia Maroni.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Solid tumor heterogeneity;
- Targeted therapy, including target identification and validation;
- Immune modulation;
- RNA-based therapy;
- Epigenetic therapy;
- Combination therapy, considering also sequential treatments and drug holidays;
- Cancer stem cell targeting;
- Recurrence mechanisms;
- Tumor evolution as defined by high-resolution transcriptomics;
- Preclinical modeling of the heterogeneous tumor milieux.
Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analyses of public genomic or transcriptomic databases, without accompanying validation (either in an independent cohort or through biological validation in vitro or in vivo), are outside of the scope for this Special Issue.
Dr. Elena Levantini
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- targeted therapy
- precision oncology
- immune modulation
- cancer stem cell targeting
- RNA-based therapy
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