About this Research Topic
Immuno-oncology has revolutionized cancer treatment by leveraging the immune system to target and eliminate tumor cells. However, the heterogeneity in patient responses to immunotherapies like immune checkpoint inhibitors underscores the need for robust biomarkers that can better predict and monitor treatment efficacy. Understanding the complex interplay between the tumor microenvironment and the host immune system is essential to identifying these biomarkers. While biomarkers like PD-L1 expression, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI) have shown promise, they are not universally applicable across all cancer types or patient populations. Expanding beyond these characterized biomarkers, there is a need to delve deeper into the tumor microenvironment, liquid biopsy-derived markers, and other underexplored areas to refine our understanding of the immunological landscape in cancer. This is particularly crucial for gynaecological malignancies, where immuno-oncology has shown significant efficacy but remains underrepresented in research.
This Research Topic aims to address the current challenges and opportunities in identifying and validating immune biomarkers that can predict and prognosticate responses to immunotherapies, specially beyond the established PD-L1, TMB, and MSI biomarkers. Recent advances, such as the integration of high-dimensional data analytics and multi-omics approaches have enabled a deeper exploration of the immunological landscape of cancer. However, there is a pressing need to refine these approaches and translate them into clinical practice. By fostering research that integrates basic, translational, and clinical perspectives, we aim to accelerate the development of precision immunotherapy strategies. The focus will be on translational and basic research that utilizes paired tumor samples or matched biomarkers from liquid biopsies, offering a more dynamic and comprehensive understanding of tumor-immune interactions. Given the emerging evidence that the microbiota significantly influences immune responses, we welcome research that investigates its role in shaping responses to immunotherapies. Special attention will be given to studies involving gynaecological malignancies, a group of cancers that has historically been underrepresented in immuno-oncology research. By bringing together diverse research that integrates insights from tumor biology, immunology, microbiota, and innovative biomarker discovery, this collection aims to pave the way for more effective, personalized immunotherapy approaches.
We would like to combine studies from different fields, including basic and translational immuno-oncology. We welcome contributions of Original Research Articles, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Perspectives that provide innovative and translational insights, but not limited to the following themes:
• Description and validation of novel immune predictive and/or prognostic biomarkers in oncology.
• Immune evasion mechanisms leading to immunotherapy resistance. Therapeutic approaches that target to overcome immune evasion mechanisms.
• Translational and basic research focusing on paired tumor samples and/or matched biomarkers with liquid biopsy approaches.
• Insights into immune cell dynamics within the tumor microenvironment in the context of immunotherapy outcomes.
• The impact of the microbiome and metabolome on immune response and treatment outcomes.
• Multi-omics approaches in immune biomarkers research in oncology.
• Immune Biomarker research specifically focused on gynaecological malignancies will be of special interest.
• Clinical trials and real-world evidence on the efficacy of biomarker-driven immunotherapy.
• AI-driven methodologies for multi-omics biomarker discovery can be considered.
Please note that Dr Anand Rotte is an employee of Arcellx Inc, a clinical stage biotech developing CAR-T cell therapies and I own stocks and stock options for Arcellx. Also note that 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 Research Topic.
This Research Topic aims to address the current challenges and opportunities in identifying and validating immune biomarkers that can predict and prognosticate responses to immunotherapies, specially beyond the established PD-L1, TMB, and MSI biomarkers. Recent advances, such as the integration of high-dimensional data analytics and multi-omics approaches have enabled a deeper exploration of the immunological landscape of cancer. However, there is a pressing need to refine these approaches and translate them into clinical practice. By fostering research that integrates basic, translational, and clinical perspectives, we aim to accelerate the development of precision immunotherapy strategies. The focus will be on translational and basic research that utilizes paired tumor samples or matched biomarkers from liquid biopsies, offering a more dynamic and comprehensive understanding of tumor-immune interactions. Given the emerging evidence that the microbiota significantly influences immune responses, we welcome research that investigates its role in shaping responses to immunotherapies. Special attention will be given to studies involving gynaecological malignancies, a group of cancers that has historically been underrepresented in immuno-oncology research. By bringing together diverse research that integrates insights from tumor biology, immunology, microbiota, and innovative biomarker discovery, this collection aims to pave the way for more effective, personalized immunotherapy approaches.
We would like to combine studies from different fields, including basic and translational immuno-oncology. We welcome contributions of Original Research Articles, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Perspectives that provide innovative and translational insights, but not limited to the following themes:
• Description and validation of novel immune predictive and/or prognostic biomarkers in oncology.
• Immune evasion mechanisms leading to immunotherapy resistance. Therapeutic approaches that target to overcome immune evasion mechanisms.
• Translational and basic research focusing on paired tumor samples and/or matched biomarkers with liquid biopsy approaches.
• Insights into immune cell dynamics within the tumor microenvironment in the context of immunotherapy outcomes.
• The impact of the microbiome and metabolome on immune response and treatment outcomes.
• Multi-omics approaches in immune biomarkers research in oncology.
• Immune Biomarker research specifically focused on gynaecological malignancies will be of special interest.
• Clinical trials and real-world evidence on the efficacy of biomarker-driven immunotherapy.
• AI-driven methodologies for multi-omics biomarker discovery can be considered.
Please note that Dr Anand Rotte is an employee of Arcellx Inc, a clinical stage biotech developing CAR-T cell therapies and I own stocks and stock options for Arcellx. Also note that 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 Research Topic.
Keywords: Immuno-oncology, Novel immune biomarkers, Liquid biops, Tumor microenvironment, Gynaecological malignancies, Immune tumor evasion, Microbiota and immunotherapy, Translational research, Paired tumor samples, Multi-omics, biomarker immunotherapy
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.
