In the final stages of solid cancers, metastases have frequently manifested in essential organs. This systemic spread of cancer is the main reason for the high cancer-related mortality rate. Metastases originate from single or collectively migrating tumor cells, that follow a multistep metastatic cascade. After the acquisition of invasive features, the disseminated tumor cells enter the blood and lymphatic system and circulate through the human body. Once they attach to the vessel wall and extravasate, they are faced with different environmental conditions in, for instance, the lymph nodes, the lung, the liver, the bones, or the brain. These organs are the most frequent sites of local and distant metastases. For this reason, it is postulated that solid cancers harbor organ-tropism regarding their preferred sites of metastatic colonization, which can be influenced amongst others by metabolism, epigenetics, and immune cell interactions.
The abrogation of cancer cell metastasis may represent a valuable strategy to treat solid cancers by preventing metastatic dissemination and recurrence. Of note, prevention of metastatic dissemination will be extremely important for solid cancers for which immune checkpoint blockade entered first-line therapy regimen since recent findings suggest that the occurrence of metastases severely hinders the efficacy of immunotherapy. To target metastases effectively, it is important to unravel and understand their organ tropism with regard to metabolism, epigenetics, and immune cell interactions leading to survival in the foreign microenvironment. Thus, novel therapeutic strategies that actively incorporate inhibition of/interfere with the metastatic behavior will lead to immediate benefits for cancer patients.
This Research Topic will focus on unraveling the molecular mechanisms in solid cancer metastasis and interactions of disseminated tumor cells with the host immune-microenvironment in the context of organ-tropism and metastasis formation. We welcome Original Research as well as Review articles including, but not limited to:
a) Reprogramming of tumor cells and stromal cells in organ-specific metastasis regarding cell differentiation, activation, cell polarity, and metabolism
b) Immune evasion during metastasis formation including epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-translational regulation
c) Pre-clinical therapeutic studies targeting metastasis and their initiation
d) Mechanisms of pre-metastatic niches triggered by cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular vesicles are also welcome
Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
In the final stages of solid cancers, metastases have frequently manifested in essential organs. This systemic spread of cancer is the main reason for the high cancer-related mortality rate. Metastases originate from single or collectively migrating tumor cells, that follow a multistep metastatic cascade. After the acquisition of invasive features, the disseminated tumor cells enter the blood and lymphatic system and circulate through the human body. Once they attach to the vessel wall and extravasate, they are faced with different environmental conditions in, for instance, the lymph nodes, the lung, the liver, the bones, or the brain. These organs are the most frequent sites of local and distant metastases. For this reason, it is postulated that solid cancers harbor organ-tropism regarding their preferred sites of metastatic colonization, which can be influenced amongst others by metabolism, epigenetics, and immune cell interactions.
The abrogation of cancer cell metastasis may represent a valuable strategy to treat solid cancers by preventing metastatic dissemination and recurrence. Of note, prevention of metastatic dissemination will be extremely important for solid cancers for which immune checkpoint blockade entered first-line therapy regimen since recent findings suggest that the occurrence of metastases severely hinders the efficacy of immunotherapy. To target metastases effectively, it is important to unravel and understand their organ tropism with regard to metabolism, epigenetics, and immune cell interactions leading to survival in the foreign microenvironment. Thus, novel therapeutic strategies that actively incorporate inhibition of/interfere with the metastatic behavior will lead to immediate benefits for cancer patients.
This Research Topic will focus on unraveling the molecular mechanisms in solid cancer metastasis and interactions of disseminated tumor cells with the host immune-microenvironment in the context of organ-tropism and metastasis formation. We welcome Original Research as well as Review articles including, but not limited to:
a) Reprogramming of tumor cells and stromal cells in organ-specific metastasis regarding cell differentiation, activation, cell polarity, and metabolism
b) Immune evasion during metastasis formation including epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-translational regulation
c) Pre-clinical therapeutic studies targeting metastasis and their initiation
d) Mechanisms of pre-metastatic niches triggered by cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular vesicles are also welcome
Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
