Marine-Derived Agents in Anticancer Targeting and Therapy
A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: synthesis of heterocyclic compounds; antitumor agents; cystic fibrosis; kinases; antimitotic agents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: anticancer compounds; synthesis of bioactive molecules; heterocyclic scaffolds; antiviral agents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
It is a great pleasure to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, titled “Marine-Derived Agents in Anticancer Targeting and Therapy”.
Progress in cancer biology and in the identification of molecular pathways underlying tumor growth have significantly advanced targeted cancer therapy. Nevertheless, therapeutic resistance remains a major challenge, highlighting the need for novel compounds capable of selectively modulating oncogenic pathways through novel mechanisms of action. In this context, marine environments represent a great source of molecules with innovative scaffolds, remarkable chemical diversity, and peculiar structural features to inspire rational design and synthesis of novel anticancer agents. This originality offers valuable opportunities for the identification of marine-derived compounds as promising targeted therapies with improved selectivity.
The Special Issue, “Marine-Derived Agents in Anticancer Targeting and Therapy”, welcomes high-quality original research articles and reviews focusing on known or novel marine-derived bioactive compounds with anticancer potential, also inspiring drug discovery processes. Studies elucidating biological targets, mechanisms of action, computational analyzes and structure–activity relationships are particularly encouraged, with the aim of highlighting the emerging role of marine natural products in advancing effective and selective anticancer therapeutics.
Prof. Dr. Paola Barraja
Dr. Alessandra Montalbano
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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
- marine natural products
- marine-derived compounds
- anticancer therapy
- targeted cancer therapy
- chemical synthesis
- structure–activity relationship (SAR)
- oncogenic pathways
- molecular targets
- drug discovery and development
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