About this Research Topic
In recent years, cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapies have greatly improved patient outcomes. Despite these advances, the emergence of drug resistance remains a critical challenge, leading to treatment failures and disease progression. Resistance can develop from intrinsic properties of cancer cells or be acquired through treatment, involving complex genetic, epigenetic, and metabolic changes. The integration of high-throughput screening with multi-omics analysis (including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) provides a powerful approach to exploring the molecular underpinnings of resistance. This combined methodology offers a comprehensive view of the resistance landscape, facilitating the identification of novel resistance mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.
The primary aim of this Research Topic is to enhance our understanding of resistance mechanisms in cancer therapy, thereby improving treatment outcomes. We seek to uncover novel genetic, epigenetic, and metabolic alterations contributing to drug resistance, and to map molecular pathways that cancer cells exploit to survive. The development of predictive biomarkers for patient stratification and new therapeutic targets to counteract resistance are key goals. By refining high-throughput and multi-omics techniques, we aim to improve the precision of resistance studies. This initiative emphasizes translational research to facilitate the clinical application of laboratory discoveries. Additionally, it explores the tumor microenvironment's influence on resistance, particularly in immunotherapy, to propose integrative strategies that combine and optimize treatment modalities.
Scope and Information for Authors:
• Mechanisms of Resistance to Chemotherapy:
o Genetic and epigenetic changes contributing to drug resistance.
o Alterations in drug transport, metabolism, or DNA repair pathways.
o Role of the tumor microenvironment in chemotherapy resistance.
• Resistance Pathways in Targeted Therapy:
o Secondary mutations or bypass signaling pathways leading to resistance.
o Role of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity in evading targeted therapies.
o Novel strategies to overcome resistance to targeted inhibitors.
• Immunotherapy Resistance:
o Immune evasion mechanisms, including loss of tumor antigens or immunosuppressive microenvironments.
o Influence of immune checkpoint molecules and other immunomodulatory factors.
o Combination strategies to enhance immunotherapy efficacy.
• Integration of High-Throughput Screening Approaches:
o Use of genetic or pharmacological screening to identify novel resistance genes or pathways.
o Application of CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi, or small-molecule libraries in resistance research.
• Multi-Omics Approaches to Understand Resistance:
o Integrating genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to provide a comprehensive view of resistance mechanisms.
o Bioinformatics tools and computational models for multi-omics data analysis.
o Identification of biomarkers or signatures predictive of therapeutic response.
• Novel Therapeutic Targets and Combination Treatments:
o Discovery of new druggable targets to overcome resistance.
o Development and testing of combination therapies based on insights from resistance mechanisms.
o Repurposing of existing drugs to target resistance pathways.
Types of Manuscripts:
• Original Research Articles: Presenting new experimental data related to resistance mechanisms in chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy.
• Review Articles: Summarizing current knowledge, challenges, and future directions in understanding cancer treatment resistance.
• Perspective or Opinion Papers: Offering viewpoints on emerging trends or new strategies in combating therapeutic resistance.
• Methods Articles: Describing novel high-throughput screening techniques or multi-omics data analysis methods.
The primary aim of this Research Topic is to enhance our understanding of resistance mechanisms in cancer therapy, thereby improving treatment outcomes. We seek to uncover novel genetic, epigenetic, and metabolic alterations contributing to drug resistance, and to map molecular pathways that cancer cells exploit to survive. The development of predictive biomarkers for patient stratification and new therapeutic targets to counteract resistance are key goals. By refining high-throughput and multi-omics techniques, we aim to improve the precision of resistance studies. This initiative emphasizes translational research to facilitate the clinical application of laboratory discoveries. Additionally, it explores the tumor microenvironment's influence on resistance, particularly in immunotherapy, to propose integrative strategies that combine and optimize treatment modalities.
Scope and Information for Authors:
• Mechanisms of Resistance to Chemotherapy:
o Genetic and epigenetic changes contributing to drug resistance.
o Alterations in drug transport, metabolism, or DNA repair pathways.
o Role of the tumor microenvironment in chemotherapy resistance.
• Resistance Pathways in Targeted Therapy:
o Secondary mutations or bypass signaling pathways leading to resistance.
o Role of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity in evading targeted therapies.
o Novel strategies to overcome resistance to targeted inhibitors.
• Immunotherapy Resistance:
o Immune evasion mechanisms, including loss of tumor antigens or immunosuppressive microenvironments.
o Influence of immune checkpoint molecules and other immunomodulatory factors.
o Combination strategies to enhance immunotherapy efficacy.
• Integration of High-Throughput Screening Approaches:
o Use of genetic or pharmacological screening to identify novel resistance genes or pathways.
o Application of CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi, or small-molecule libraries in resistance research.
• Multi-Omics Approaches to Understand Resistance:
o Integrating genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to provide a comprehensive view of resistance mechanisms.
o Bioinformatics tools and computational models for multi-omics data analysis.
o Identification of biomarkers or signatures predictive of therapeutic response.
• Novel Therapeutic Targets and Combination Treatments:
o Discovery of new druggable targets to overcome resistance.
o Development and testing of combination therapies based on insights from resistance mechanisms.
o Repurposing of existing drugs to target resistance pathways.
Types of Manuscripts:
• Original Research Articles: Presenting new experimental data related to resistance mechanisms in chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy.
• Review Articles: Summarizing current knowledge, challenges, and future directions in understanding cancer treatment resistance.
• Perspective or Opinion Papers: Offering viewpoints on emerging trends or new strategies in combating therapeutic resistance.
• Methods Articles: Describing novel high-throughput screening techniques or multi-omics data analysis methods.
Keywords: Drug resistance, Cancer therapy, High-throughput screening, Multi-omics, Chemotherapy, Targeted therapy, 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.
