About this Research Topic
Gastrointestinal cancers, including esophageal, stomach, colon, liver, and pancreatic cancer, account for approximately 22.5% of all cancer deaths globally. By 2040, the number of new cases of gastrointestinal cancer worldwide is expected to reach 7.5 million, and the number of deaths will reach 5.6 million. Advanced systemic treatment regimens can extend disease-free survival by more than 2 years in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal cancer but have little impact on long-term overall survival. Over the years, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have become first-line treatments for various cancers. However, among patients with gastrointestinal malignancies, PD-1 or PD-L1 ligand blockade is effective only in approximately 20-40% of patients. Therapeutic approaches to breaking tumor tolerance through PD-1 and PD-L1 require an understanding of the molecular regulation of immune checkpoints, including genomic alterations, transcription, transcriptional and post-translational modifications, and extracellular transport. Existing checkpoint-based immunotherapies are often ineffective and may be limited by toxicity, thus, it becomes urgent to identify novel immunotherapies and combination strategies.
This Research Topic aims to collect original research and review articles on the regulatory mechanisms and immunotherapy strategies of immune checkpoints for gastrointestinal tumors and discuss the regulation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and molecular targeted therapy in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes.
We welcome submissions of both original research and review articles including but not limited to the following:
● Novel immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors.
● Novel mechanisms controlling immune checkpoints in gastrointestinal tumors, including genomic alterations, transcription, post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, and trafficking at the extracellular level.
● Resistance mechanisms of gastrointestinal tumors to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
● Immune checkpoint regulatory mechanisms that improve outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal cancers treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
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.
This Research Topic aims to collect original research and review articles on the regulatory mechanisms and immunotherapy strategies of immune checkpoints for gastrointestinal tumors and discuss the regulation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and molecular targeted therapy in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes.
We welcome submissions of both original research and review articles including but not limited to the following:
● Novel immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors.
● Novel mechanisms controlling immune checkpoints in gastrointestinal tumors, including genomic alterations, transcription, post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, and trafficking at the extracellular level.
● Resistance mechanisms of gastrointestinal tumors to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
● Immune checkpoint regulatory mechanisms that improve outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal cancers treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
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: Immune Checkpoints, PD-L1, Immunotherapy, Gastrointestinal Cancers
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.
