Immune Biomarkers and Checkpoint Inhibitors: Advancing Immunotherapy in Gynecologic Cancers
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 19
Special Issue Editors
Interests: gynecologic malignancies; immunotherapy; biomarkers; tumor microenvironment
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Advanced and recurrent gynecologic cancers, including endometrial, cervical, and ovarian carcinomas, have shown poor prognoses and high cancer-related mortality rates over the past decades. In recent years, targeted therapy has emerged as an adjuvant or combination treatment alongside traditional approaches. Immunotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are among the emerging advancements that have been newly studied, and some of the associated agents were approved by the FDA in patients with recurrent or advanced-stage cervical and endometrial cancers. Consequently, treatment options for gynecologic malignancies are becoming more diverse, with a strong emphasis on multimodal strategies for effective tumor eradication.
Tumor cells evade immunity by creating an immunosuppressive microenvironment through inhibitory pathways notably involving cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), programmed death-ligand 1 and its receptor (PD-1/PD-L1), and other ligands. Novel immunotherapy approaches aim to inhibit these immune checkpoints, counteracting negative regulation between tumor cells and T cells, thereby enhancing antitumor immune responses.
The exploration of immunology in gynecologic cancer is extensive and holds the potential for identifying novel diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic markers. In addition to the development of new ICIs to treat advanced recurrent gynecologic cancers, some cytokines or ligands of immune cells have the potential to serve as biomarkers for both disease diagnosis and prognosis. As a result, ongoing research is warranted for new immune biomarkers and therapeutic targets, ultimately enhancing survival outcomes for gynecologic cancer patients in the future.
This Special Issue will highlight the role of immunology in gynecologic cancers, focusing on biomarkers and their applications in gynecologic tumors from both preclinical and clinical perspectives. It will advance our understanding of targeting this complex pathway in gynecologic malignancies.
Dr. Ting-Tai Yen
Dr. Eugene Patrick Toy
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- immune checkpoints
- checkpoint inhibitors
- PD-1/PD-L1 pathway
- immune biomarkers
- tumor microenvironment
- immunosuppressive pathways
- T-cell activation in solid tumors
- gynecologic tumors
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