This Research Topic is dedicated to compiling the latest information on the biological factors associated with the tumour microenvironment and anti-cancer mechanisms. The role of the immune system in cancer eradication has been explored for several decades, with varying results regarding its effectiveness, some tumours are sensitive to immune response, while others may evade immune detection or resistance. Research into those pathways has already led to a new class of immuno-oncology treatments known as checkpoint inhibitors, which disrupt immunosuppression and restore T-cell activity. The controversy was the result of a poor understanding of the underlying mechanisms that govern responsiveness and unresponsiveness. Hence, significant advances have been made concerning the regulation of the host immune response against cancer and several immuno-therapeutics have been recently introduced and used clinically. Various studies have examined potential underlying mechanisms involved in resistance and identified a variety of gene products that play pivotal roles in maintaining the resistant phenotype of the cancer cells to cell-mediated immunotherapy. Emphasis is on the biochemical, molecular, and genetic mechanisms by which the tumour spreads and resists.
The scope of this Research Topic will be to provide updated information to scientists and clinicians that is valuable in their quest to gather information, carry out new investigations, and develop novel immuno-sensitizing agents that are both more potent and also that might be active whereby the existing ones were not active.
In addition, this Research Topic aims to:
- To provide basic and clinical evidence based on molecular interactions and clinical studies to address the tumour microenvironment, its role in metastasis, novel risk factors and risk and benefits of novel cancer immunotherapy.
- To present the results of new immunotherapy trials, discussing the state-of-the-art in breast cancer, including targeted therapies approved by the FDA, along with therapies with clinical potential used in basic studies.
This Research Topic is a second edition "Volume II" of our previous highly successful project, building on the valuable contributions and insights from the last edition. This new collection aims to further explore emerging trends and advancements, fostering a deeper understanding of the subject and encouraging continued collaboration in the field.
Keywords: Breast cancer, Metastasis, Tumor Microenvironment, Risk factors, immune check points, novel therapies
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.
