Cancer immunotherapy has profoundly changed the therapeutic landscape of several solid tumors, yet only a subset of patients derives durable clinical benefit. The identification and validation of reliable biomarkers able to predict response, resistance, and long-term outcome remain major priorities in translational oncology. In this context, pathology plays a central role, as tissue-based evaluation provides direct information on tumor morphology, immune infiltration, spatial organization of the tumor microenvironment, and the expression of clinically relevant immune-checkpoint molecules. This Research Topic aims to explore the evolving role of tissue-based, pathology-driven biomarkers in cancer immunity and immunotherapy, anchored in conventional histopathology, immunohistochemistry, molecular and digital pathology, and tissue-applied multi-omics approaches. Contributions may address immune-checkpoint biomarkers such as PD-L1, CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3 and other emerging targets, as well as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, macrophage polarization, tertiary lymphoid structures, mismatch repair deficiency, microsatellite instability, tumor mutational burden, oncogenic pathway–immune interactions, and other tissue-based markers relevant to immunotherapy response, including their correlation with circulating counterparts where relevant. Particular interest will be given to studies evaluating methodological reproducibility, scoring systems, interobserver variability, pre-analytical and analytical pitfalls, and the practical implementation of biomarkers in diagnostic pathology workflows. A key focus of this collection will be the translation of biomarker research into clinically meaningful tools, including the heterogeneity of immune biomarkers across primary tumors, metastatic sites, and treatment-related changes, as well as the role of spatial and digital pathology in improving immune profiling. Submissions may include original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, brief research reports, methods papers, and expert reviews dealing with solid tumors across different anatomical sites, including but not limited to genitourinary, gynecologic, gastrointestinal, thoracic, breast, skin, and head and neck malignancies. Both tumor-specific and pan-cancer perspectives are encouraged, particularly when they provide insights into the biological and clinical relevance of cancer immunity. Overall, this Research Topic seeks to bring together pathologists, oncologists, immunologists, molecular biologists, and translational researchers to provide an updated and clinically oriented overview of how pathology-based immune biomarkers can refine patient selection, guide therapeutic strategies, and support the development of next-generation immunotherapy approaches in solid tumors. Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent clinical or patient cohort, or biological validation in vitro or in vivo, which are not based on public databases) are not suitable for publication in this journal.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Classification
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
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Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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