Recent Advances in Rare Cancers: From Bench to Bedside and Back

Dear Colleagues,

About one in eight cancers diagnosed in adults belongs to the group of Rare Cancers, which by common definition occur at an annual incidence of less than 6 cases per 100,000 of the population. For comparison, the most common cancers in females and males, breast and prostate cancer, respectively, occur at a roughly 20-fold higher incidence than even the most ‘common’ of the Rare Cancers. This group encompasses a very large and heterogeneous range of cancers including carcinomas, sarcomas, and neuronal and hematologic malignancies. Increasing identification and definition of subtypes of these rare tumors fosters an understanding of their biologic dimensions. For instance, soft tissue sarcomas, a Rare Cancer occurring at an incidence of less than 5 per 100,00 of the population, may be subclassified into more than 70 subtypes with different biologies, clinical behaviors, and treatments. The downside of the identification of increasingly scarce subtypes of Rare Cancers is that classical clinical drug development via randomized clinical trials may become futile, owing to the impossibility of enrolling sufficient patient numbers.

This back-to-back Special Issue of Cancers provides a platform for latest research into Rare Cancers, showcasing new insights into their management.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Current Oncology.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Johannes Köstler
Guest Editor

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