As the most common solid tumors, gastrointestinal and respiratory cancers are a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and remain a major challenge for cancer treatment. Given the findings of mechanistic studies, the remodeling of tumor ecosystem is now considered to play a critical role in the progression, metastasis, and drug resistance of these tumors. This dynamic process relies on complex intercellular interactions between cancer cells and diverse non-malignant cell types, such as immune cells, endothelial cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment. During the process of tumor initiation, progression, invasion, and metastatic dissemination of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancers, the tumor ecosystem is dynamically evolving. There will be variations in the tumor’s subclonal diversity, cellular composition, and functional state of its microenvironment in the distinct stages of cancer progression. In addition, tumor genomic features and the tumor microenvironment patterns have been reported to be associated with the response to cancer treatment in gastrointestinal and respiratory cancers. Meanwhile, clinical therapies such as immunotherapy and chemotherapy also have a significant impact on the dynamic evolution of tumor ecosystem.
Recent technological breakthroughs including single-cell and spatial transcriptomics have facilitated high-resolution analysis of tumor ecosystem atlases of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer. Nevertheless, the comprehension of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remains incomplete due to the dynamic evolutionary characteristics of the tumor ecosystem during cancer progression or drug treatment. In this topic, we endeavor to collect the latest research results, new methods, and insight reviews that focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms of tumor ecosystem remodeling during cancer progression or drug treatment in gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer, aiming at elucidating the mechanisms of tumor ecosystem changes and the reciprocal communication between tumor cells, immune cells, and diverse stromal cells, exploring cancer evolution and developing effective anti-cancer therapies.
Subtopics may include, but are not limited to:
1. Cellular changes of tumor microenvironment during the progression of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer.
2. Dynamic interplay between tumor cells and immune cells or stromal cells in evolving tumors.
3. Dissection of intercellular mechanisms involved in the remodeling of the tumor ecosystem, including intercellular crosstalk mechanisms along the tumorigenesis trajectory and treatment process and molecular mechanisms driving immune evasion in cancer progression.
4. Study on prognostic biomarkers and the dynamic nature of the tumor ecosystem during neoadjuvant treatment of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer
5. The cellular context related to tumor suppressive or tumor activating microenvironment.
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.
As the most common solid tumors, gastrointestinal and respiratory cancers are a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and remain a major challenge for cancer treatment. Given the findings of mechanistic studies, the remodeling of tumor ecosystem is now considered to play a critical role in the progression, metastasis, and drug resistance of these tumors. This dynamic process relies on complex intercellular interactions between cancer cells and diverse non-malignant cell types, such as immune cells, endothelial cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment. During the process of tumor initiation, progression, invasion, and metastatic dissemination of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancers, the tumor ecosystem is dynamically evolving. There will be variations in the tumor’s subclonal diversity, cellular composition, and functional state of its microenvironment in the distinct stages of cancer progression. In addition, tumor genomic features and the tumor microenvironment patterns have been reported to be associated with the response to cancer treatment in gastrointestinal and respiratory cancers. Meanwhile, clinical therapies such as immunotherapy and chemotherapy also have a significant impact on the dynamic evolution of tumor ecosystem.
Recent technological breakthroughs including single-cell and spatial transcriptomics have facilitated high-resolution analysis of tumor ecosystem atlases of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer. Nevertheless, the comprehension of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remains incomplete due to the dynamic evolutionary characteristics of the tumor ecosystem during cancer progression or drug treatment. In this topic, we endeavor to collect the latest research results, new methods, and insight reviews that focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms of tumor ecosystem remodeling during cancer progression or drug treatment in gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer, aiming at elucidating the mechanisms of tumor ecosystem changes and the reciprocal communication between tumor cells, immune cells, and diverse stromal cells, exploring cancer evolution and developing effective anti-cancer therapies.
Subtopics may include, but are not limited to:
1. Cellular changes of tumor microenvironment during the progression of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer.
2. Dynamic interplay between tumor cells and immune cells or stromal cells in evolving tumors.
3. Dissection of intercellular mechanisms involved in the remodeling of the tumor ecosystem, including intercellular crosstalk mechanisms along the tumorigenesis trajectory and treatment process and molecular mechanisms driving immune evasion in cancer progression.
4. Study on prognostic biomarkers and the dynamic nature of the tumor ecosystem during neoadjuvant treatment of gastrointestinal and respiratory cancer
5. The cellular context related to tumor suppressive or tumor activating microenvironment.
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.