Targeting of Multiple Predictive Biomarkers for Checkpoint Immunotherapy

Dear Colleagues,

Immunotherapy is recognized as a major scientific advance that has revolutionized cancer therapy over the last few years. However, there is an urgent need to identify novel biomarkers that predict the complex responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors. This could further improve treatment responses and prolong the survival of cancer patients. Biomarkers are biological/pathological molecules found in patient blood, tumor cells and tissues. They can be present at the genomic, cellular or soluble level, and be in the form of host genomic factors, serum proteins, and nucleic acids (DNA or RNA molecules) present within tumor cells or their microenvironment. Ideal biomarkers will help healthcare professionals achieve optimal treatment goals and bring clinical benefits to patients. Over the past decades, multiple tumor biomarkers have been validated and are now widely used in clinics with proven effectiveness. However, there is still a need to improve the efficacy of cancer treatments by identifying more reliable biomarkers.

The development of high-throughput sequencing technologies in proteomics and genomics has allowed single and multifactorial synergistic biomarkers to be investigated for clinical purposes using a variety of biomarker strategies. For example, mass spectrometry has improved the diagnosis of hybrid tumors and bulk, while single cell sequencing has improved our current understanding of specific tumor cell markers used for early diagnosis. The identification of multiple immune-checkpoint markers that are critical to the development of therapeutic targets for precise immune-oncology should also have a profound impact in the field of personalized medicine.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together original research and review articles that focus on the identification of novel predictive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, with an emphasis on immunotherapy.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Biomarkers for predicting tumor recurrence and metastasis
- Biomarkers for the identification of tumor-associated cell types
- Biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and as immunotherapy targets
- Use of biomarkers for the assessment of tumor prognosis 
- Liquid biopsy biomarkers such as circulating tumor DNA or peripheral blood cell biomarkers
- New methodologies including algorithms used for the characterization of tumor biomarkers
- Biomarkers associated with the tumor immune microenvironment phenotype 
- Tumor genome and neoantigen-related biomarkers
- Spatial-temporal changes and regulatory mechanisms involved with biomarkers

Prof. Fu Wang

Guest Editor

Manuscripts should be submitted via our online editorial system at https://imr.propub.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to start your submission. Manuscripts can be submitted now or up until the deadline. All papers will go through peer-review process. Accepted papers will be published in the journal (as soon as accepted) and meanwhile listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, reviews as well as short communications are preferred. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office to announce on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts will be thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. Please visit the Instruction for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) in this open access journal is 2500 USD. Submitted manuscripts should be well formatted in good English.