Journal of Chemotherapy

Targeted therapies and immunotherapy of digestive system tumors

With a rate of 26% of cancer cases worldwide and 34% of all cancer-related deaths, digestive system tumors are the most common and deadly tumors in the world. Even with the use of adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy, a fair number of patients continue to experience distant metastases and drug resistance. Thus, it is necessary to have a deeper comprehension of the processes that underlie the development of cancer in order to develop effective treatment plans for tumors of the digestive system.

Novel treatment strategies, i.e. targeted therapy, has increased overall survival for a number of digestive system tumors, such as colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, biliary tract cancers, and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. By interfering with particular oncogenic signaling pathways, targeted therapies can effectively suppress the growth, differentiation, and migration of cancer cells. Targeted drugs may also alter the tumor microenvironment, which includes immune cells, stromal cells, and blood vessels, in order to suppress tumor growth and enhance immune surveillance. Small molecules and different types of monoclonal antibodies are the key components of targeted therapy.

To date, newly developed immunotherapy strategies have also demonstrated important clinical efficacy advantages in the treatment of digestive system tumors including esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers. In particular, immune checkpoint inhibitors, chimeric antigen T cell therapies, tumor vaccines, and treatments aimed to target other immune cells (e.g., NK cells) are emerging at a never-before-seen rate. Guidelines worldwide are currently being updated with regard to recommended immunotherapy and targeted drugs derived from to the completion of several high-quality clinical trials based on specific molecular biomarkers.

The aim of this special collection is to present a comprehensive overview of recently developed targeted and immune therapies as well as novel treatment perspectives for tumors of the digestive system, with the potential to set new benchmarks for precision medicine in this field of oncology.

Thus, the present special collection of open access articles, launched by the Journal of Chemotherapy, has the objective of publishing a series of highly qualified contributions to stimulate discussion on relevant recent findings and will favor progress in the field.

This collection will solicit open access review and original research articles on clinical research. Articles on the following topics are of interest:

Specific topics of interest related to targeted therapies and immunotherapy of digestive system tumors:

• Targeted therapies (e.g., protein kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies)
• Immunotherapy (e.g., immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific T cell recruiting antibodies, chimeric antigen T cell therapies, tumor vaccines, and treatments aimed to target other immune cells)

In the following cancer types:

• Esophageal and esophagogastric junction cancers
• Gastric cancer
• Small intestine cancers
• Colorectal cancers
• Anal cancers
• Hepatocellular carcinoma
• Hepatobiliary and biliary tract cancers
• Pancreatic adenocarcinoma
• Neuroendocrine gastroenteropancreatic tumors
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumors

The Article Publishing Charge (APC) can be calculated via the Open Access Cost Finder.