About this Research Topic
Precision oncology can be broadly defined as the use of data from laboratory testing to inform therapeutic decision making. Despite recent scientific advancements, clinical implementation of individualized treatment strategies based on molecular profiling and other clinical testing remains suboptimal. Accordingly, studies show that while a majority of oncologists accept that the field of precision oncology is an emerging part of the clinical environment, less than a third acknowledge that it is widely applied in the care of patients. Moreover, considering that the first tissue-agnostic drugs in oncology were FDA-approved in the late 2010s, the field of precision oncology will only continue to grow as more drugs are approved based on molecular profiling and laboratory testing results that are independent from tissue of origin. Through this Research Topic, the medical community will have a better understanding of the precision oncology research landscape and the data potentially impacting clinical efficacy/outcomes with immunotherapy-based treatment strategies, which could facilitate more widespread utilization in conventional care.
Challenges to clinical implementation of precision oncology-directed treatments include physician education and adoption, analysis and interpretation of overwhelming datasets/reports, clinical trial access, and unknown testing costs associated with insurance coverage/reimbursement. Through the publication of studies using predictive efficacy or diagnostics to inform treatment considerations, reports on novel tests and analytical approaches being developed, and review articles landscaping either strategies for best-practice implementation or clinically approved testing modalities available commercially, scientific discoveries in precision oncology may be more efficiently and optimally translated into clinical care. Consequently, the goal of this Research Topic is to capture a comprehensive collection of journal articles focused on immunotherapeutic applications in the field of precision oncology that will collectively provide high-quality clinical evidence or research data and summarize emerging or commercially available laboratory tests to facilitate broader future clinical utilization. The data, review articles, and reports will not only highlight the immediate impact precision oncology-directed treatment strategies can have on patient outcomes but will also show the underutilized potential that still remains to be leveraged clinically.
In order to accomplish the objectives outlined above, we are interested in Original Research articles that would generally be considered precision oncology research with a focus on immunotherapy-based treatment strategies. In addition, we are also interested in Review/Mini Review and Case Report articles. Examples of studies can include, but are not limited to the following:
• in vitro and in vivo preclinical data as well as clinical studies, including case studies
• in vitro or in vivo laboratory tests (both clinically approved and research use only)
• Cellular or molecular level testing
• Analysis/interrogation of DNA/RNA sequencing data by NGS to guide clinical treatments
• Drug sensitivity or resistance testing
• Testing via protein expression by mass spectrometry
• Tests evaluating the effects of epigenetic modifications
• Reviews of precision oncology testing modalities commercially available (both diagnostic and predictive of treatment response)
• Reviews outlining strategies for best-practice implementation of precision oncology-directed treatment strategies in clinical care
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.
Dr. Nicholas Young is Senior Research Director at Private Health Management. Dr. Emanuel F. Petricoin is a consultant, shareholder, and chair of the scientific advisory board at Theralink Technologies, Inc; consultant, shareholder, and Chief Science Officer at Perthera, Inc; and consultant, shareholder, and serves on the board of directors at Ceres Nanosciences. Dr. Aharon Freud is a consultant with ImmuneBridge, Inc. and ImmunoVec, Inc. The other topic editors declare no competing interests with regard to the topic theme.
Challenges to clinical implementation of precision oncology-directed treatments include physician education and adoption, analysis and interpretation of overwhelming datasets/reports, clinical trial access, and unknown testing costs associated with insurance coverage/reimbursement. Through the publication of studies using predictive efficacy or diagnostics to inform treatment considerations, reports on novel tests and analytical approaches being developed, and review articles landscaping either strategies for best-practice implementation or clinically approved testing modalities available commercially, scientific discoveries in precision oncology may be more efficiently and optimally translated into clinical care. Consequently, the goal of this Research Topic is to capture a comprehensive collection of journal articles focused on immunotherapeutic applications in the field of precision oncology that will collectively provide high-quality clinical evidence or research data and summarize emerging or commercially available laboratory tests to facilitate broader future clinical utilization. The data, review articles, and reports will not only highlight the immediate impact precision oncology-directed treatment strategies can have on patient outcomes but will also show the underutilized potential that still remains to be leveraged clinically.
In order to accomplish the objectives outlined above, we are interested in Original Research articles that would generally be considered precision oncology research with a focus on immunotherapy-based treatment strategies. In addition, we are also interested in Review/Mini Review and Case Report articles. Examples of studies can include, but are not limited to the following:
• in vitro and in vivo preclinical data as well as clinical studies, including case studies
• in vitro or in vivo laboratory tests (both clinically approved and research use only)
• Cellular or molecular level testing
• Analysis/interrogation of DNA/RNA sequencing data by NGS to guide clinical treatments
• Drug sensitivity or resistance testing
• Testing via protein expression by mass spectrometry
• Tests evaluating the effects of epigenetic modifications
• Reviews of precision oncology testing modalities commercially available (both diagnostic and predictive of treatment response)
• Reviews outlining strategies for best-practice implementation of precision oncology-directed treatment strategies in clinical care
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.
Dr. Nicholas Young is Senior Research Director at Private Health Management. Dr. Emanuel F. Petricoin is a consultant, shareholder, and chair of the scientific advisory board at Theralink Technologies, Inc; consultant, shareholder, and Chief Science Officer at Perthera, Inc; and consultant, shareholder, and serves on the board of directors at Ceres Nanosciences. Dr. Aharon Freud is a consultant with ImmuneBridge, Inc. and ImmunoVec, Inc. The other topic editors declare no competing interests with regard to the topic theme.
Keywords: Proteomics, precision oncology, immunotherapy, individualized patient treatment, tumor-agnostic clinical testing, molecular profiling, genomics, epigenomics, pan-omics, drug sensitivity testing, efficacy, clinical trials, predictive susceptibility testing, clinical diagnostics, CLIA tests in oncology, Next-generation Sequencing – NGS (DNAseq/RNAseq
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.
