Currently, despite significant progress in diagnostic methods or surgical resection, the prognosis of advanced gastrointestinal malignancies remains discouraging. Adverse clinical outcomes of advanced gastrointestinal malignancies are mainly due to metastasis or recurrence. One of the most challenging obstacles to overcome before eradicating gastrointestinal malignancies is metastasis. Metastasis is a complex process that mainly depends on the interaction between the primary tumor and the tumor microenvironment. It is worth noting that there is a close relationship between tumor metastasis and immune tolerance. During the process of tumor metastasis, tumor cells evade the attack of the host immune system, thus forming an immune-tolerant state that prevents immune cells from eliminating tumor cells. At the same time, the immune-tolerant state also promotes the metastasis of tumor cells, making it easier for tumor cells to invade other tissue organs and form new metastatic foci. In addition, at the genetic level, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), anoikis resistance, dysregulation of metastasis-related genes, and reshaping of immune cell infiltration have also been implicated in immune evasion or tolerance. Therefore, researching and developing effective gene-targeted therapeutic strategies to break the immune-tolerant state between tumor cells and immune cells is of great significance for formulating treatment plans for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies.

In this research project, we focus on identifying biomarkers and therapeutic targets related to the metastasis of gastrointestinal malignancies, which can be used for patient stratification. By analyzing the differences in immune cell infiltration levels between subgroups, we will elucidate the mechanisms by which metastasis leads to immune tolerance more clearly. This will help provide new insights into the treatment of metastatic gastrointestinal malignancies and provide more appropriate precision treatment strategies based on the immune infiltration status of metastatic tumors, thereby overcoming immune tolerance.

We welcome comments, mini-reviews, systematic reviews, clinical trials, and original research articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Pathways and targets for overcoming immunotolerance in metastatic gastrointestinal tumors
2. Mechanisms inducing the metastasis and immune tolerance of gastrointestinal tumors
3. Immune landscapes in gastrointestinal tumor metastasis
4. The role of immune response-related molecules in gastrointestinal tumor metastasis
5. Strategies for limiting gastrointestinal tumor metastasis
6. Prognostic ability of metastasis-related genes in gastrointestinal tumors
7. Developing targeted therapeutics for immune-tolerant metastatic gastrointestinal tumors

Please Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by robust and relevant validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this topic.

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Frontiers in Immunology

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