Tumorigenesis and Virus-based Targeted Therapy

Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, the reasons of tumorigenesis and development are complex, which also increase the difficulty of tumor therapy. Somatic copy-number changes, variants and mutations in genomic regions, and epigenetic modifications are deeply associated with tumorigenesis, however, the precise mechanism underlying tumorigenesis remains unclear. The first oncolytic adenovirus was approved for the clinical treatment of several malignancies in 2005. The deletion of the E1B-55kD gene of adenovirus endows it with the ability to selectively replicate in cancer cells rather than in normal cells. This result has the advantage of specifically killing tumor cells using oncolytic virus while sparing normal cells. Oncolytic viral therapy is regarded as a promising approach to the treatment of cancer. Therefore, the challenges in exploring the mechanism of tumorigenesis and the development of oncolytic viral tumor therapy are important and interesting topics.

In this Research Topic, we welcome Original Research articles providing new developments to deepen the understanding of tumorigenesis and novel insights to advance oncolytic tumor-targeting therapy. A selected number of Review articles will also be considered for publication, giving higher priority to those focusing on the opportunities and challenges in tumorigenesis and targeted therapy in oncology.

Topics covered may include, but are not limited to:
1. Insights on the key determinants underlying the most common and rare cancers.
-Small or long noncoding RNA
-Novel oncogenes and tumor suppressors

2. Groundbreaking advances in the knowledge of cancer biology at genetic and epigenetic level.
-Somatic copy-number changes
-Variants and mutations in genomic regions
-Chromosomal architectures
-DNA and histone modification

3. Efficient therapeutic efficacy using oncolytic virus in tumor therapy.
-Oncolytic adenovirus
-Other oncolytic virus