Given the success of Research Topic
Biomarkers and Immunotherapy of Hepatic-Biliary-Pancreatic Cancers and the rapidly evolving subject area, we are pleased to announce the launch of Volume II.
Hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancers, mainly including hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, and gallbladder cancer, are highly aggressive malignancies with few treatment options and poor prognoses. Effects of traditional systemic treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are quite limited to hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancers. For patients who suffer from hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancer and lose the opportunity of radical surgery, few targeted drugs are available. Even for the drugs in the clinical trials, potential drug targets and prognostic biomarkers for hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancer are less studied compared to other cancers, such as lung cancer. It is of vital importance to explore novel therapeutic targets and the underlying mechanisms of tumor progression.
Immunotherapy, especially PD-1 or PD-L1 antagonists, has exhibited potent treatment effects on cancers. To date, many PD-1 drugs are available for cancer treatment, and more than one hundred PD-1 drugs are in clinical trial. However, the screening of sensitive patients and the effective prediction of immunotherapy efficacy are still unsolved problems. Moreover, there are few guidelines available for immunotherapy of hepatobiliary pancreatic tumors.
Compared with ICI monotherapy, the benefits are more obvious when different ICIs are combined. However, toxicity and immune-related adverse events must be balanced. Combining ICI with other therapies (such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, vaccine treatment, etc.) also demonstrated a moderate improvement in patient outcomes.
In this Research Topic, we aim to bring together recent advances in immunotherapy of hepatic-biliary-pancreatic tumors. Studies discovering biomarkers stratifying appropriate patients for immunotherapy and indicating prognosis or immunotherapeutic effects for patients with hepatic-biliary-pancreatic tumors are also welcome. We welcome submissions of Review, Mini-Review, Clinical Trial, and Original Research articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:
1. New immune checkpoint targets for immunotherapy of hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancers.
2. Studies evaluating the efficacy of immunotherapy in hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancer patients.
3. Novel immune checkpoint inhibitors for hepatic-biliary-pancreatic cancers and their underlying molecular mechanisms.
4. Studies evaluating the efficacy of combination therapies targeting of multiple immune checkpoint pathways.
5. Studies evaluating the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in conjunction with other therapies (such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, vaccine treatment, etc.).
Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
