Progress in targeted signaling inhibition and immunotherapy has spurred a race to transform treatment across virtually all cancer disease sites. There is ample preclinical data pointing toward the promise of personalized strategies in upper aerodigestive squamous cell cancer, the most common form of head and neck (H&N) disease. Nonetheless, any success with new agents remains hard-earned in the upper aerodigestive tract. The squamous mucosal epithelium of the aerodigestive tract gives rise to doggedly “old-school” cancers, for which decades-old platinum analogs remain dominant among first-line systemic options for curative radiosensitization. Halting progress in H&N disease is made especially stark when contrasted with emerging advances in outcomes for closely related squamous malignancies of the lower respiratory tract. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have upended management pathways for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although squamous lung disease has proven itself to be clinically distinct and more challenging than other NSCLC histologies due to the infrequency of targetable genetic drivers, it remains very responsive to a variety of immunotherapy combinations (with or without chemotherapy) and is an established adjuvant to definitive chemoradiotherapy for unresectable disease. Patients with H&N squamous disease have not been as fortunate and may stand to benefit from lessons learned in closely related lower aerodigestive sites.
This Research Topic will take a novel holistic approach, viewing the upper and lower aerodigestive epithelium as a biological and anatomic continuum across which biologically informed lessons can be applied across cancer sites that have traditionally been approached separately in the clinic. We will explore emerging results from the latest mechanistic preclinical studies to envision new therapies that could be combined with established treatments, such as surgery, cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and systemic immunotherapy to most broadly improve clinical outcomes.
The scope of this Research Topic is limited to the targeting of the biology of aerodigestive squamous cell cancers. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Novel genetic markers and treatment resistance pathways shared across aerodigestive squamous cell malignancies.
- Unique signaling dysregulation linking benign chronic conditions (e.g. COPD) to cancers of aerodigestive epithelium.
- Promising pathway targets specific to mutational drivers, tumor histology/phenotype, and molecular subtypes in aerodigestive cancer.
- Development and validation of clinically actionable molecular signatures/biomarkers across aerodigestive squamous cell cancers.
- Novel combination of large-scale socioeconomic data registries with ongoing population-level genomic profiling studies to ascertain and direct health policies to reduce aerodigestive cancer risk in vulnerable populations facing high baseline incidence.
This Research Topic welcomes submissions in the form of original research articles, reviews, methods, and clinical trials.
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.
Keywords:
immunotherapy, Targeted Signaling Inhibition, Aerodigestive Squamous Cell Cancer, Molecular Biomarkers, Personalized Medicine
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.
Progress in targeted signaling inhibition and immunotherapy has spurred a race to transform treatment across virtually all cancer disease sites. There is ample preclinical data pointing toward the promise of personalized strategies in upper aerodigestive squamous cell cancer, the most common form of head and neck (H&N) disease. Nonetheless, any success with new agents remains hard-earned in the upper aerodigestive tract. The squamous mucosal epithelium of the aerodigestive tract gives rise to doggedly “old-school” cancers, for which decades-old platinum analogs remain dominant among first-line systemic options for curative radiosensitization. Halting progress in H&N disease is made especially stark when contrasted with emerging advances in outcomes for closely related squamous malignancies of the lower respiratory tract. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have upended management pathways for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although squamous lung disease has proven itself to be clinically distinct and more challenging than other NSCLC histologies due to the infrequency of targetable genetic drivers, it remains very responsive to a variety of immunotherapy combinations (with or without chemotherapy) and is an established adjuvant to definitive chemoradiotherapy for unresectable disease. Patients with H&N squamous disease have not been as fortunate and may stand to benefit from lessons learned in closely related lower aerodigestive sites.
This Research Topic will take a novel holistic approach, viewing the upper and lower aerodigestive epithelium as a biological and anatomic continuum across which biologically informed lessons can be applied across cancer sites that have traditionally been approached separately in the clinic. We will explore emerging results from the latest mechanistic preclinical studies to envision new therapies that could be combined with established treatments, such as surgery, cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and systemic immunotherapy to most broadly improve clinical outcomes.
The scope of this Research Topic is limited to the targeting of the biology of aerodigestive squamous cell cancers. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Novel genetic markers and treatment resistance pathways shared across aerodigestive squamous cell malignancies.
- Unique signaling dysregulation linking benign chronic conditions (e.g. COPD) to cancers of aerodigestive epithelium.
- Promising pathway targets specific to mutational drivers, tumor histology/phenotype, and molecular subtypes in aerodigestive cancer.
- Development and validation of clinically actionable molecular signatures/biomarkers across aerodigestive squamous cell cancers.
- Novel combination of large-scale socioeconomic data registries with ongoing population-level genomic profiling studies to ascertain and direct health policies to reduce aerodigestive cancer risk in vulnerable populations facing high baseline incidence.
This Research Topic welcomes submissions in the form of original research articles, reviews, methods, and clinical trials.
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.
Keywords:
immunotherapy, Targeted Signaling Inhibition, Aerodigestive Squamous Cell Cancer, Molecular Biomarkers, Personalized Medicine
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.