Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) in Cancer Immunotherapy: Intriguing Game Changers with Future Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

Capitalizing on an investigative journey of more than a century, the last decade witnessed the adoption of immune checkpoint inhibitors as an innovative weapon in the oncologists’ arsenal that unleashes the immune system to fight cancer. The landmark approval of the archetype immune checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab—anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) monoclonal antibody—by the FDA for treatment of metastatic melanoma in 2011 paved the way for the expansion of the indications of ipilimumab and the FDA approval of seven additional immune checkpoint inhibitors (as of November 14, 2022)—four anti-programmed cell-death (PD) protein 1 (PD-1) and three anti-PD ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibodies for treatment of an increasing repertoire of malignancies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer treatment in multiple settings, as highlighted by the awarding of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to the scientists who pioneered this breakthrough treatment. Nevertheless, the success story of immune checkpoint inhibitors is undermined by two major hindrances: (i) the cancer resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, and (ii) the unique profile of immune-related adverse events.

The burgeoning field of immune checkpoint inhibitors advances at a breathtaking pace to guide drug development and combinational treatment approaches, aiming to optimize cancer patients’ benefit and eliminate immune-related toxicity. A milestone of this endeavor is the timely translation from laboratory to clinic and vice versa.

Prompted by the commitment of Vaccines to build a platform for vital communication between researchers, clinicians, and readers worldwide, this Special Issue entitled “Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in Cancer Immunotherapy: Intriguing Game Changers with Future Perspectives” aims to inform our understanding of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer immunotherapy. We are pleased to invite you to contribute original research articles and reviews pertinent to all aspects of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer immunotherapy. You are welcome to refine the current paradigm, tackle challenging issues, and open new avenues related to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Research areas may include—though are not limited to—the following topics:

• Pursuit of new druggable immune checkpoints.
• Overcoming cancer resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
• Leveraging nanotechnology and bioengineering for the development of novel immune checkpoint inhibitors.
• Combining distinct types of immune checkpoint inhibitors or immune checkpoint inhibitors with other cancer treatment approaches.
• Validating predictive and prognostic biomarkers related to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
• Utilizing the genomic and the immune profiling of the tumors to personalize immune checkpoint inhibitors.
• Harnessing the artificial intelligence (AI) and the analysis of large-scale protein data from tumor samples to personalize immune checkpoint inhibitors.
• Understanding, predicting, and mitigating the immune-related toxicity.

Dr. Maria V. Deligiorgi
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Vaccines 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 2700 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.

• biomarkers
• combination therapy
• cancer immunotherapy
• immune checkpoints
• immune checkpoint inhibitors
• immune profile
• immune-related adverse events
• monoclonal antibodies
• neoadjuvant immunotherapy
• precision medicine
• resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors
• response to immune checkpoint inhibitors
• targeted therapy
• tumor microenvironment