Guest Editors:
Marisa Gariglio, MD, PhD, University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy
Professor Mauro Pistello, MD, PhD, University of Pisa, Italy
Infectious Agents and Cancer is calling for submissions to our Collection on New insights in pathogen-related cancers. Infectious agents cause approximately 20% of all human cancer cases worldwide, with higher rates in low-income countries. Six human viruses, including high-risk alpha human papillomaviruses (HPV), hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) viruses, human T-cell lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (HHV-8), have been classified as class 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In addition, the Helicobacter pylori bacterium as well as the Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis, and Schistosoma haematobium helminths have been also defined as class 1 carcinogens to humans. All known oncogenic pathogens can promote cell survival and transformation because of their common abilities to cause chronic insults, genetic and epigenetic alterations, deregulated metabolic pathways, and immune escape.
The global burden of pathogen-related cancers is expected to grow with the identification of novel oncogenic microorganisms or uncommon tropism of known agents in the body sites. Paradigmatic is the role of HPV infection in oropharyngeal cancers and the clinical relevance of such association. The cooperation of viruses with environmental risk factors, such as cutaneous HPV types and ultraviolet radiation or HBV and aflatoxin, is another important emerging issue in cancer development. Furthermore, recent findings showed the intriguing effects of microbiota in cancer susceptibility, neoplastic progression, co-infections with carcinogenic agents, and response to therapy.
This collection aims to gather and share novel information focusing on epidemiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, genetics, and epigenetics as well as translational research of infectious agents causing cancer. All types of manuscripts in this scope will be welcome, including research articles, brief reports, and review articles.
Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have carefully read the submission guidelines. The complete manuscript should be submitted through the journal submission system. To ensure that you submit to the correct collection please select 'New insights in pathogen-related cancers' in the drop-down menu upon submission.
Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.
The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.
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