About this Research Topic
The physical and molecular structure of brain tumors has made treatment difficult in the past. The complex nature of the brain frequently makes full surgery challenging, and the blood-tumor barrier (BTB), which can differ from the normal blood-brain barrier (BBB), may lessen the tumor's exposure to systemic therapy.
Additionally, the microenvironmental properties of brain tumors are highly unique and linked to complicated developmental aspects. Tumors comprise a range of distinct stromal cells that make up the tumor microenvironment (TME) in addition to malignant cancer cells. While some of these cell types are essential for the formation of tumors, others may actually slow the advancement of tumors.
Particularly in the brain, there are many different types of specialized cells, including brain endothelial cells, astrocytes, neurons, and microglia that form the TME. Apart from the aforementioned brain-resident cells, it has also been demonstrated that distinct populations of bone marrow-derived cells infiltrate primary and metastatic brain cancers.
Currently, only a limited amount of knowledge exists regarding the different cell types that make up the TME and their significance and involvement in the development of brain cancers. It has been demonstrated that the TME offers promise as a therapeutic target and a diagnostic marker for extracranial cancers. Thus, a deeper comprehension of the brain's TME is predicted to aid in the creation of new brain tumor medicines, which are desperately needed because there are currently few effective treatments for these cancers.
This Special Issue will cover pre-clinical and clinical studies that focus on biological characterization, understanding of physio-pathological processes, and clinical applications such as improved imaging techniques, as well as recent developments in different targeting design strategies, therapeutic approaches, and drugs involving nanomedicine and nanotechnology. The main emphasis will be on the TME in brain tumors, exploring its genetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic features that influence tumor growth, behavior, and resistance to treatment. This will facilitate the advancement and verification of pre-clinical and clinical models specifically created for identifying therapeutic targets and treatments for both primary and metastatic brain tumors.
Additionally, the microenvironmental properties of brain tumors are highly unique and linked to complicated developmental aspects. Tumors comprise a range of distinct stromal cells that make up the tumor microenvironment (TME) in addition to malignant cancer cells. While some of these cell types are essential for the formation of tumors, others may actually slow the advancement of tumors.
Particularly in the brain, there are many different types of specialized cells, including brain endothelial cells, astrocytes, neurons, and microglia that form the TME. Apart from the aforementioned brain-resident cells, it has also been demonstrated that distinct populations of bone marrow-derived cells infiltrate primary and metastatic brain cancers.
Currently, only a limited amount of knowledge exists regarding the different cell types that make up the TME and their significance and involvement in the development of brain cancers. It has been demonstrated that the TME offers promise as a therapeutic target and a diagnostic marker for extracranial cancers. Thus, a deeper comprehension of the brain's TME is predicted to aid in the creation of new brain tumor medicines, which are desperately needed because there are currently few effective treatments for these cancers.
This Special Issue will cover pre-clinical and clinical studies that focus on biological characterization, understanding of physio-pathological processes, and clinical applications such as improved imaging techniques, as well as recent developments in different targeting design strategies, therapeutic approaches, and drugs involving nanomedicine and nanotechnology. The main emphasis will be on the TME in brain tumors, exploring its genetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic features that influence tumor growth, behavior, and resistance to treatment. This will facilitate the advancement and verification of pre-clinical and clinical models specifically created for identifying therapeutic targets and treatments for both primary and metastatic brain tumors.
Keywords: Brain Tumor Microenvironment (TME), Blood-Tumor Barrier (BTB), Therapeutic Targets, Molecular Characterization, Pre-clinical and Clinical Studies, Tumor Heterogeneity, Brain-Resident Cells, Bone Marrow-Derived Cells, Diagnostic Markers, Imaging Techniques
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