Overcoming Obstacles of Cancer Immunotherapy: The Important Role of Emerging Nanomedicine

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Background

Targeting the immune system as a therapy for cancer has become a proven clinical approach, resulting in significant progress. This has been made possible through the use of checkpoint blockade antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. We still face several challenges that require our attention, such as: 1) enhancing response rates, which are hindered by tumor heterogeneity; 2) understanding immune resistance mechanisms and overcoming immunotherapy resistance; 3) quickly identifying and managing immune-related adverse events (irAEs); 4) the absence of reliable biomarkers to accurately predict immunotherapy response; 5) identifying the best combination approaches to improve treatment effectiveness and overcome resistance; and 6) developing personalized treatment plans based on individual patient characteristics. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new immunotherapy agents or approaches to increase the proportion of patients who benefit from immunotherapy. Nanomedicine has emerged as a promising field for developing innovative therapeutic approaches, particularly in cancer treatment. Over the last few years, drug delivery systems based on nanotechnology have shown remarkable promise in improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.

This Research Topic aims to collect articles that provide valuable insights on coping with immunotherapy challenges in cancer patients, which will cover topics like managing irAEs and implementing immunotherapy for specific patient populations with cancer. We would like to focus on comprehending mechanisms of immune resistance and developing innovative approaches to overcome cancer immunotherapy resistance through nanomedicine strategies, identifying new immune checkpoint molecules and developing innovative immunotherapy drugs to enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, as well as developing novel biomimetic nanomaterials to overcome the inhibitory tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). We welcome submissions covering but not limited to the following sub-topics:

1) Development and evaluation of novel biomimetic nanomedicine strategies for cancer immunotherapy by targeting inhibitory TIME.
2) Identification of new immune checkpoint molecules and development of innovative immunotherapy drugs based on nanomedicine to enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.
3) Development of self-assembly nanomedicine for cancer immunotherapy, especially for cancer patients routinely excluded from clinical trials of ICIs.
4) Mechanisms and strategies for overcoming cancer immunotherapy resistance.
5) Safety and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of specific patient populations with cancer, such as those with combined interstitial lung disease, autoimmune diseases, hepatitis B virus infection, elderly cancer patients, ECOG-PS>2, and other relevant conditions.
6) Early identification, risk assessment, and comprehensive management of irAEs. Additionally, studies exploring the feasibility of immunotherapy rechallenges in these patients are highly encouraged.
7) Nanomedicine-based mRNA therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy, such as in vivo CART.

Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.

Keywords: cancer, immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, nanomedicine

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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