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Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 4th Edition
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Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 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 January 2027 | Viewed by 880

Editors

Prof. Dr. Stergios Boussios

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45 110 Ioannina, Greece
2. Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital of Ioannina, 45 500 Ioannina, Greece
3. Faculty of Medicine, Health and Social Care, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK
4. School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
Interests: ovarian cancer; cervical cancer; prostate cancer; colorectal cancer; cancer in pregnancy; homologous recombination of DNA; PARP inhibitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tania Vanessa Pierfelice

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Chieti–Pescara, Chieti, Italy
Interests: cancer research; molecular biology; cell biology; pharmacology; drug discovery; photobiomodulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer remains a major global health challenge and one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Despite remarkable advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, the biological complexity of cancer continues to hinder the development of effective and durable therapeutic strategies. Over the past decades, significant progress in molecular biology has revealed the intricate genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolic alterations that drive tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms is essential for the identification of novel biomarkers and the development of personalized approaches to cancer management.

This Special Issue, ‘Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 4th Edition’, aims to provide an updated overview of recent advances in cancer biology and their translational implications. We welcome the submission of original research articles, reviews, and systematic studies that investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development and progression, as well as the innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies arising from these discoveries.

Particular emphasis will be placed on studies that explore tumor heterogeneity, cancer metabolism, tumor–microenvironment interactions, immune regulation, mechanisms of treatment resistance, and the identification of clinically relevant biomarkers. Contributions that employ emerging technologies, including next-generation sequencing, single-cell and spatial analyses, computational pathology, artificial intelligence, and multi-omics approaches, are especially encouraged.

Potential topics of interest for this Special Issue include the following:

  • Molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and tumor progression;
  • Cancer genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics;
  • Tumor microenvironment and cancer–immune system interactions;
  • Cancer metabolism and metabolic reprogramming;
  • Biomarker discovery for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment response;
  • Mechanisms of drug resistance and therapeutic failure;
  • Precision oncology and personalized medicine;
  • Computational pathology and artificial intelligence in cancer research;
  • Multi-omics approaches for cancer characterization;
  • Novel molecular targets and emerging anticancer therapies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to advancing our understanding of cancer biology for improved patient diagnosis and treatment.

1st edition of the Special Issue “Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment”
2nd edition of the Special Issue “Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 2nd Edition”
3rd edition of the Special Issue “Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 3rd Edition”

Prof. Dr. Stergios Boussios
Dr. Tania Vanessa Pierfelice
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cancer molecular biology
  • tumor microenvironment
  • cancer biomarkers
  • precision oncology
  • cancer metabolism
  • translational cancer research

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 10361 KB  
Article
ST6GAL1 Glycoengineering Rewires Cytokine Signaling and Preserves Metabolic Fitness in CAR-T Cells Under Galectin-3-Mediated Immunosuppression
by Lee Seng Lau, Maria Suarez, Aizada Berdalinova, Rebecca Z. Fan, Rajib Kumar Shil, Joseph Souchak, Kim Tieu, Avery D. Posey, Jr. and Charles J. Dimitroff
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(14), 6393; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27146393 - 18 Jul 2026
Viewed by 271
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in hematologic malignancies; however, durable responses remain limited by tumor microenvironment (TME)-mediated immunosuppression. Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a β-galactoside-binding lectin enriched in the TME, contributes to CAR-T cell dysfunction by impairing cytotoxicity, promoting apoptosis, and [...] Read more.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in hematologic malignancies; however, durable responses remain limited by tumor microenvironment (TME)-mediated immunosuppression. Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a β-galactoside-binding lectin enriched in the TME, contributes to CAR-T cell dysfunction by impairing cytotoxicity, promoting apoptosis, and altering cellular signaling. While we previously demonstrated that enforced expression of the α2,6 sialyltransferase ST6GAL1 reduces galectin binding and improves CAR-T cell function, the mechanistic basis underlying this protection remains unclear. Here, we report that Gal-3 induced a hypometabolic state in CAR-T cells characterized by reduced mitochondrial function, ATP production, and glucose utilization. In contrast, ST6GAL1-overexpressing CAR-T cells preserved metabolic fitness and functional resilience under Gal-3 stress. Additionally, Gal-3 rewired cytokine signaling by increasing IL-5 expression and dysregulating downstream pathways, whereas enforced ST6GAL1 expressing CAR-T cells exhibited increased SOCS1 and SOCS3 expression and attenuated STAT5 activation. Transcriptomic analysis of CAR-T cells from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients further revealed enrichment of STAT5-associated signaling and SOCS1 expression in complete responders compared to partial responders. Collectively, these findings identify glycoengineering as a promising strategy to enhance CAR-T cell persistence and function under Gal-3-mediated immunosuppressive stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 4th Edition)
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18 pages, 7791 KB  
Article
Prognostic Significance and Primary–Metastatic Differences in VASH1 Expression, CD34-Defined Microvessel Density, and VEGF Expression in Colorectal Cancer
by Oktay Halit Aktepe, Rezan Berkay Izgor, Ozlem Aydin Isak, Olcay Kurtulan, Tugce Ulasli and Suayib Yalcin
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(14), 6319; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27146319 - 16 Jul 2026
Viewed by 282
Abstract
This study evaluated the prognostic significance of vasohibin-1 (VASH1) expression, cluster of differentiation 34 (CD34)-defined microvessel density (MVD), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, as well as the differences in these parameters between primary and metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) lesions. Tissue microarrays [...] Read more.
This study evaluated the prognostic significance of vasohibin-1 (VASH1) expression, cluster of differentiation 34 (CD34)-defined microvessel density (MVD), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, as well as the differences in these parameters between primary and metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) lesions. Tissue microarrays were used to quantify VASH1 and VEGF expression and CD34-defined MVD. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis identified optimal cut-off values for overall survival (OS). Correlations among markers were analyzed with Spearman’s test, paired tissue comparisons by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and survival outcomes by Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses. The study included 144 CRC patients (median age: 60 years; 59% male). ROC analysis determined optimal thresholds of 6 for VASH1 (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72–0.87), 37 for CD34-defined MVD (AUC: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.68–0.84), and 6 for VEGF (AUC: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.58–0.76). Patients with high VASH1 expression, high CD34-defined MVD, and high VEGF expression had significantly shorter OS compared with their corresponding low-marker groups (VASH1, p < 0.001; CD34-defined MVD, p < 0.001; VEGF, p = 0.007). Among the 45 patients with paired primary and metastatic samples, metastatic lesions showed significantly lower VASH1 and VEGF expression and lower CD34-defined MVD than matched primary tumors, with median values decreasing from 6.0 to 4.0 for VASH1 (p = 0.002), from 4 to 3 for VEGF (p < 0.001), and from 32 to 27 for CD34-defined MVD (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, high VASH1 expression (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.01–4.20, p = 0.048) and high CD34-defined MVD (HR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.15–3.89, p = 0.015) remained independent predictors of poor OS. High VASH1 expression and high CD34-defined MVD were independent adverse prognostic factors for OS in CRC. Lower angiogenesis-related marker levels in metastatic lesions suggest heterogeneity in tumor angiogenesis. External validation is required before clinical application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 4th Edition)
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Review

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43 pages, 1774 KB  
Review
Current Approaches and Emerging Strategies in the Treatment of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis
by Anna Alyasova, Kanamat Efendiev, Igor Reshetov, Dinara Ilyasova, Olga Shpileva, Victor Loschenov, Vladimir Makarov, Evgenia Zakharova, Pavel Karalkin, Yulia Agakina, Aida Gilyadova, Vadim Cheremisov, Andrey Stetsiuk, Alim Nebezhev, Polina Kozlova, Aminat Ataeva, Ekaterina Rostislavova, Valeria Sudarkina and Artem Shiryaev
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(15), 6623; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27156623 - 24 Jul 2026
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Abstract
Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is a common, prognostically unfavorable manifestation of advanced gastrointestinal and gynecological malignancies whose treatment is constrained by the blood-peritoneal barrier, which limits drug penetration even when cytoreductive surgery is combined with systemic chemotherapy. This review evaluates current intraperitoneal treatment modalities [...] Read more.
Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is a common, prognostically unfavorable manifestation of advanced gastrointestinal and gynecological malignancies whose treatment is constrained by the blood-peritoneal barrier, which limits drug penetration even when cytoreductive surgery is combined with systemic chemotherapy. This review evaluates current intraperitoneal treatment modalities and emerging technologies for overcoming this limitation, based on recent clinical trials and meta-analyses identified through Scopus and PubMed. We sequentially examine conventional intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IPC); hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in ovarian, gastric, and colorectal cancers, with attention to patient selection and the peritoneal cancer index as determinants of survival benefit; pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) and its electrostatic precipitation variant (ePIPAC); and photodynamic and photothermal therapy for tumor treatment. Novel strategies are also discussed, including IPC combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors, optical dosimetry, and nanomedicine-based drug delivery as tools for improving treatment precision. Overall, management of PC is transitioning toward a personalized, multimodal approach: HIPEC and PIPAC provide standardized platforms for regional therapy, but future progress depends on integrating advanced drug delivery systems, immunotherapy, and real-time intraoperative monitoring, with standardization of protocols through large multicenter trials remaining a priority for translating these modalities into clinical practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Cancer—Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment: 4th Edition)
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