Role of Cancer Stem Cell Regulatory Pathways in Immune Evasion and Drug Resistance
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Oncology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 190
Special Issue Editor
Interests: cancer signaling; cancer immunology; cancer metabolism; targeted therapy; repurposed drugs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) in immune evasion and drug resistance are vast, encompassing various research areas, techniques, and potential applications. Here are some aspects that illustrate the scope of this field:
- Basic Research: Investigating the fundamental mechanisms underlying CSC-mediated immune evasion involves studying CSC biology, tumor microenvironment interactions, immune cell signaling pathways, and immune escape mechanisms. Basic research aims to uncover the molecular and cellular processes that enable CSCs to evade immune surveillance, providing insights into potential therapeutic targets.
- Experimental Models: Researchers employ a wide range of experimental models to study CSCs in immune evasion, including in vitro cell culture systems, 3D organoid cultures, genetically engineered mouse models, patient-derived xenografts, and organotypic tumor models. These models enable the investigation of CSC–immune cell interactions, tumor–immune microenvironment dynamics, and the development of novel therapeutic strategies.
- Technological Advances: Advances in high-throughput genomics, single-cell sequencing, proteomics, imaging techniques, and computational biology have revolutionized the study of CSCs in immune evasion. These technologies enable the comprehensive profiling of CSC populations, immune cell subsets, and the tumor microenvironment at high resolutions, facilitating the discovery of novel biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and predictive signatures.
- Clinical Translation: Translating basic research findings into clinical applications is a key aspect of studying CSCs in immune evasion. Clinical studies aim to validate preclinical findings, evaluate the efficacy and safety of novel immunotherapeutic approaches targeting CSCs, and identify predictive biomarkers of responses to immunotherapy in cancer patients. Clinical trials investigating CSC-targeted immunotherapies are underway across various cancer types.
- Therapeutic Strategies: Developing therapeutic strategies to overcome CSC-mediated immune evasion represents a major focus of research in this field. Approaches include targeting CSC-specific surface markers or signaling pathways, modulating the tumor microenvironment to enhance immune recognition and activation, combining CSC-targeted therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors or adoptive cell therapies, and exploiting vulnerabilities in CSC metabolism and survival pathways.
- Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Studying CSCs in immune evasion requires collaboration among researchers from diverse disciplines, including cancer biology, immunology, bioinformatics, pharmacology, and clinical oncology. Multidisciplinary approaches facilitate the integration of knowledge and expertise, fostering innovative research strategies and accelerating progress toward clinical applications.
Overall, this thematic issue on CSCs in immune evasion encompasses basic research, experimental models, technological advances, clinical translation, therapeutic strategies, and multidisciplinary collaboration. By elucidating the mechanisms of CSC-mediated immune evasion and developing targeted interventions, researchers aim to improve outcomes for cancer immunotherapy.
Dr. Pritam Sadhukhan
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- cancer immunology
- cancer stem cells
- cancer metabolism
- cancer immunotherapy
- biomarkers
- drug targets
- drug resistance
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