Although it is widely accepted that genetic mutations play pivotal roles in tumor initiation, cancer progression, and recurrence, cancers solely caused by genetic mutations are relatively rare. Currently, therapeutic targets of most approved cancer drugs are based on somatically mutated oncogenes, and detection of somatic mutations of candidate genes is of high significance for clinicians and translational cancer biologists. However, mutation-based targets and relevant indicators are rare or even non-existing in the majority of malignancies.
Accumulating evidence indicates that somatic mutations can exist in the normal tissues without leading to cancer. Phenotypically normal cells carrying somatic mutations appear to colonize in human tissues such as the esophagus during aging. Cells with cancer-associated mutations cover much of the epithelium in middle-aged and elderly subjects. For example, the prevalence of NOTCH1 mutations in the phenotypically normal esophagus is several times higher than that of esophageal cancer.
On the other hand, growing numbers of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, rather than mutations, reportedly affect cancer development and cell plasticity. Therefore, the growing repertoire of mutation-independent factors could become applicable therapeutic targets in cancer treatment.
The objective of this Article Collection is to publish original research papers, reviews, and comments from authors who are interested in addressing these challenges and providing new insights into the mutation-independent driving force for cancer progression, or tumor evolution, relevant clinical translational evidence, or hypotheses in harnessing these non-genetic (mutation-independent) alterations in cancer theragnostics.
We aim to solicit papers on, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Genomic and non-genomic dysregulation in cancer progression
- Targeted cancer therapeutics and molecular indicators
- Mutation-independent cancer drivers and targets
- Cell-state heterogeneity in cancer cells and microenvironment
- Proof-of-principle cancer clinical trials
Annals of Medicine accepts the following types of articles:
- Research Article
- Clinical Study
- Study Characteristics
- Systematic Review
- Review Article
- Mini Review
- Case Series
When submitting your article, please select the section, 'Oncology', and the Special Issue, 'Mutation-Independent Factors for Carcinogenesis and Cancer Progression: From Bench to Bedside' from the drop-down menu on the submission system.
Annals of Medicine is an online, open-access, international journal publishing across all areas of medicine and is part of our Elevate Series. This means that you will receive a concierge-level publishing experience, including dedicated support from our expert in-house Editorial team, with guaranteed response times of within 48 hours, an initial decision on whether your article will be peer-reviewed within 5 working days, and a first decision on your research within an average of 22 working days.
