Contents
Special Issue Topic

Molecular Diagnosis and Personalized Therapy of Cancer

Guest Editors

Prof. Monica Fedele E-Mail

Research Director, Institute for Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology Gaetano Salvatore (IEOS), Department of Biomedical Sciences, National Research Council (CNR), Naples, Italy

Prof. Andrea Vecchione E-Mail

Full Professor of Pathologic Anatomy, University of Rome La Sapienza, c/o Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Sant'Andrea, Rome, Italy

About the Special lssue

Cancer is a highly heterogeneous and dynamic disease that evolves from the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic mutations affecting key driver molecules responsible for the malignant and chemo-resistant phenotype.

In recent years, there has been a groundbreaking expansion in technological advances and therapeutic innovations in cancer medicine. Cancer diagnostics have begun moving away from sole reliance on direct biopsy of tumor tissue for cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring. Consequently, pathologists have flanked molecular diagnosis to the morphological approach to discriminate within each tumor type, specific subtypes with different clinical outcomes. As a result, the classification of tumors has changed to include both morphological and molecular criteria. For most cancer types, specific biomarkers have been characterized, which can predict the success of specific therapy and are themselves targets of the treatment. However, each of these factors is influenced by the unique genetic signature, which may affect the expressivity of the malignant phenotype and its response to pharmacological approaches. Therefore, it becomes increasingly imperative to personalize cancer treatment by tailoring the best treatment approach to the patient.

With this special issue, we would like to summarize current knowledge on the latest molecular approaches to personalized cancer diagnosis and therapy and welcome any contribution, including original research articles, reviews, opinions, and hypotheses, which may open a discussion on new perspectives about this topic.

Keywords: Biomarker, targeted therapy, personalized cancer medicine, molecular signature

Published Articles

Open Access Original Article
Evaluation of antitumor potential of an anti-glypican-1 monoclonal antibody in preclinical lung cancer models reveals a distinct mechanism of action
Minghua Li ... Qingyu Zhou
Published: June 17, 2024 Explor Target Antitumor Ther. 2024;5:600–626
1390 20 0
Open Access Perspective
Practical implications of androgen receptor inhibitors for prostate cancer treatment
Fabio Campodonico ... Carlo Introini
Published: May 28, 2024 Explor Target Antitumor Ther. 2024;5:543–550
2787 55 1
Open Access Perspective
Immunotherapy in thymic epithelial tumors: tissue predictive biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitors
Stefano Lucà ... Renato Franco
Published: May 21, 2024 Explor Target Antitumor Ther. 2024;5:465–476
1562 20 0
Open Access Case Report
Improving single nucleotide polymorphisms genotyping accuracy for dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase testing in pharmacogenetics
Annalaura Montella ... Mario Capasso
Published: April 24, 2024 Explor Target Antitumor Ther. 2024;5:374–383
1520 21 1