About this Research Topic

Background

Rare tumors represent a heterogeneous group of solid and liquid malignancies with uncertain etiology, classification, and clinical behavior. The incidence is estimated at less than 6 in 100000 people per year. Despite their low incidence, rare cancers represent 20-25% of all neoplasms with almost 250 different entities. Outcomes in patients with rare cancers are worse than those in patients with more common tumor types. This is mainly caused by difficulties or delays in diagnosis, limited access to centers with clinical expertise, less effective standard treatments, and inadequate funding for preclinical and clinical research programs. Rare cancers are thus a significant public health issue and an urgent need exists to better understand the natural history, explore prognostic and predictive biomarkers, develop novel therapies and facilitate clinical trials for these marginalized diseases. Innovative treatments are often not easily available for these rare cancers, even though some of them have been paradigmatic models for targeted therapies of cancer (e.g. gastrointestinal stromal tumor [GIST]).

In order to answer these unmet scientific and clinical needs, a strong collaboration between clinicians and laboratory researchers grouped in multidisciplinary cancer teams is required, along with a research network between several institutions. These could potentially lead to a larger enrolment of rare cancer patients into translational and clinical studies.

This Research Topic aims to give a comprehensive overview of key areas of research focus and future perspectives in rare cancer research (head and neck cancers, neuroendocrine neoplasia and endocrine glands tumors, soft tissue sarcoma, central nervous system neoplasms) while focusing on preclinical, translational and clinical studies. Topics should include but are not limited to:

1) Gene expression profiling and preclinical pharmacology on rare tumors using immortalized cell lines and primary cultures in vitro and in vivo
2) Preclinical investigation on the mechanism of action of innovative drugs or innovative chemotherapy regimens for rare cancers treatment
3) Prognostic and Predictive biomarkers: From Bench To Bed
4) Optimization Of Diagnostic Pathways In Rare Cancer
5) Advanced Clinical Practice: Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities
6) New Drugs, New Side Effects: Complications of Cancer Immunotherapy and TKIs
7) Clinical Epidemiology: Understand The Natural History Of Rare Cancer

We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Clinical Trial, Case Report, Data Report, Opinion and Study Protocol articles.

TI has received honoraria from Eisai as consultant and grants or funding to his institution from Novartis.
TI participated in congress which travel and accommodations were paid by Ipsen, Pharmamar, and Novartis.

Keywords: rare tumors, pharmacology, chemotherapy, network, gene expression profiling, immunotherapy, epidemiology, toxicity

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