Cancer Therapy Resistance: Choosing Kinase Inhibitors, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the prominent efforts and achievements in cancer treatment, cancer resistance to classical chemotherapeutic agents and/or novel targeted drugs continues to be a major problem in clinical oncology. The advent of multiple omics techniques has provided a broader understanding of the tumor heterogeneity and drug resistance mechanisms in human cancer. The key mechanisms of intrinsic and acquired resistance to cancer therapy include (1) pre-existing or secondary genetic alterations in the drug target; (2) activation of bypass signaling pathways involving second driver proto-oncogenes; (3) heterogeneity of tumor subpopulations, including cancer stem cells; and (4) alteration of the tumor microenvironment (TME), including immune evasion.

The data integration of epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics has allowed defining the complex functional role of kinase networks in molecular mechanisms driving resistance.

The targeting of kinases represents a new therapeutic paradigm in the clinical challenge of overcoming resistance. This Special Issue aims to exploit promising findings and innovative therapeutic strategies to overcome cancer drug resistance. We welcome both original research articles and topical reviews with a strong focus on hot kinase-mediated molecular mechanisms driving resistance and novel therapeutic options with kinase inhibitor (KI) agents, or combination therapies, including pharmaceutics strategies and technologies for drug optimization. We especially welcome submissions about immune evasion and tumor heterogeneity mediated by kinase networks, including exciting studies using liquid biopsy approaches to assess resistance, particularly when coupled with next-generation sequencing strategies.

This Special Issue seeks to provide a tie between pharmaceutics and oncology by offering some valuable and innovative approaches to realize the process from bench to bedside.

Dr. Carmela Dell'aversana
Guest Editor

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• kinase inhibitors
• cancer drug resistance
• targeted therapy
• drug discovery
• genetic mutation
• epigenetic modifications
• alternative splicing
• epitranscriptome
• liquid biopsy
• next-generation sequencing
• immune evasion
• tumor heterogeneity