Cancer has become the most common disease worldwide. With their extremely
aggressive nature of growth, many cancer types portend dismal 5-year survival
rates. Chemotherapy, as the conventional treatment option, is the mainstay of
treatment for these malignancies, and while some patients derive remarkable
clinical response, ultimately chemoresistance prevails. This resistance highlights
the self-renewal of tumor cells and reflects its notorious capacity to mediate a
microenvironment that is tumor protective. Recently, immunotherapy achieved
great successes in tumors with abundant lymphocytes influx, such as melanoma
and lung cancer. But, none of the immunotherapeutic regimens have been
effective in immune-privileged cancers, reflecting an immune suppressive
microenvironment that is lack of immune cell infiltration along with the tumor
initiation, development, and progression, as known as ‘cold’ tumor.
Of note, as a unique immune property in tumor microenvironment of multiple
cancer types, the tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) were found in biopsies and
resected tumor tissues after the treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitors and
were correlated with clinical response and improved prognoses in patients
undergoing cancer immunotherapy. However, we will have to take the
consideration of conflict observations that the TLS characteristics in different
tumor types showed remarkable difference with completely opposite impact on
patients’ survival, for example in kidney cancer vs. bladder cancer. Therefore, the
formation and exact function of this structure are largely unknown and deserved
further exploration in all cancer types.
This research topic aims at orchestrating the recent advancement on basic
research or clinical trials targeting the tumor microenvironment of all cancers with
an emphasis of tertiary lymphoid structures. Scientific hypothesis and validation of
TLS formation related to cancer immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and
target therapy can be included.
We welcome submission of original research, reviews, and case reports.
The submission may include the following keywords, but not limited to: TLS
surrounding stroma, chemotaxis related to TLS, Follicular helper T cells (Tfh),
Tumor-resident memory T cells (Trm), B cells, Germinal center, Maturity and spatial
distribution of TLS.
Cancer has become the most common disease worldwide. With their extremely
aggressive nature of growth, many cancer types portend dismal 5-year survival
rates. Chemotherapy, as the conventional treatment option, is the mainstay of
treatment for these malignancies, and while some patients derive remarkable
clinical response, ultimately chemoresistance prevails. This resistance highlights
the self-renewal of tumor cells and reflects its notorious capacity to mediate a
microenvironment that is tumor protective. Recently, immunotherapy achieved
great successes in tumors with abundant lymphocytes influx, such as melanoma
and lung cancer. But, none of the immunotherapeutic regimens have been
effective in immune-privileged cancers, reflecting an immune suppressive
microenvironment that is lack of immune cell infiltration along with the tumor
initiation, development, and progression, as known as ‘cold’ tumor.
Of note, as a unique immune property in tumor microenvironment of multiple
cancer types, the tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) were found in biopsies and
resected tumor tissues after the treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitors and
were correlated with clinical response and improved prognoses in patients
undergoing cancer immunotherapy. However, we will have to take the
consideration of conflict observations that the TLS characteristics in different
tumor types showed remarkable difference with completely opposite impact on
patients’ survival, for example in kidney cancer vs. bladder cancer. Therefore, the
formation and exact function of this structure are largely unknown and deserved
further exploration in all cancer types.
This research topic aims at orchestrating the recent advancement on basic
research or clinical trials targeting the tumor microenvironment of all cancers with
an emphasis of tertiary lymphoid structures. Scientific hypothesis and validation of
TLS formation related to cancer immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and
target therapy can be included.
We welcome submission of original research, reviews, and case reports.
The submission may include the following keywords, but not limited to: TLS
surrounding stroma, chemotaxis related to TLS, Follicular helper T cells (Tfh),
Tumor-resident memory T cells (Trm), B cells, Germinal center, Maturity and spatial
distribution of TLS.