Fifty Years of Targeted Therapy in Cancer: Past, Present and Future

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. There are many different types of cancer, including lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and skin cancer. Each type of cancer is caused by a specific set of genetic mutations and can have different risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options.

Treatment options for cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and supportive care. The choice of treatment will depend on the type and stage of the cancer, as well as the patient's overall health. However, the road is not straight, and there are multiple obstacles owing to the heterogeneity and plasticity of the cells in the tumor microenvironment. Researchers, in collaboration with physicians and surgeons, are toiling hard to combat therapeutic resistance. During the last few decades, developments have been made to understand the signaling mechanism behind therapeutic resistance, and researchers have found improved therapeutic efficacy when specific molecular pathways are targeted in the cancer cells and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME).

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that targets specific molecules or proteins within cancer cells that are involved in the growth and spread of the tumor. These therapies are designed to inhibit the growth and spread of cancer cells while minimizing harm to normal cells. Examples of targeted therapies include monoclonal antibodies, small molecule inhibitors, and kinase inhibitors. These therapies are often used in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery.

This Research Topic will provide an academic platform to discuss how different candidate therapeutic drugs can be used against deregulated regulatory pathways in TME. We invite authors to contribute original research and review articles testing the mechanism of action of natural and chemically synthesized bioactive products on various cancer types through the regulation of different molecular pathways (including suppression and overcoming resistance).

We aim to particularly focus on the recent advances in the development of different candidate molecules on different cancer types and invite the submission of comprehensive research articles, review articles, mini reviews and commentaries on the following potential topics:

(1) Significance of different regulatory pathways in cancer initiation, cancer progression, the development of chemotherapeutic resistance and immune evasion.

(2) Characteristic nature of the different regulatory pathways and significance of these pathways with respect to cancer types (as well as subtypes), stages and other exogenous or endogenous factors.

(3) Novel signaling molecules regulating the maintenance and proliferation of cancer cells and immune evasion.

(4) Novel drug candidates affecting tumor immune microenvironment.

(5) Advancements in and updates to the current drug candidates correlated with cancer stem cells’ regulatory properties and immune evasion

(6) Systemic reviews or meta-analysis of the approved drug candidates in clinical research stage with growth regulatory properties and affecting the responsiveness of immune therapy.

Since IJMS is a journal of molecular science, pure clinical studies are thus not suitable for our journal. However, clinical submissions with biomolecular experiments are welcomed.

Dr. Pritam Sadhukhan
Guest Editor

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