Cytotoxic Drugs in the Modern Era of Personalized Medicine: Are They Still of Value?
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 7469
Special Issue Editor
Interests: clinical pharmacokinetics; chemotherapeutic agents; therapeutic drug monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
For several years, cytotoxic drugs have been the cornerstone in oncology and haematology. The new class of antineoplastic drugs entered into the therapeutic armamentarium did not weaken the role of cytotoxic agents in the management of tumours. Indeed, the combination regimens revitalized their use through improved effectiveness. Furthermore, an ameliorated knowledge of their mechanisms of action and molecular pathways they targeted paved the way to the development of new drugs. These efforts were driven by the need for overcoming cancer cell resistance, and to reduce the risk of severe, and sometimes life-threatening, toxicities associated with their use. The paradigmatic example of 5-fluorouracil well describes how the landscape of this class of drugs has been changed. Indeed, the different infusion regimens, the development of oral prodrugs and the combination of an oral prodrug plus an enzymatic inhibitor improved the drug efficacy. Furthermore, the better knowledge of molecular mechanisms has fueled the search for predictive biomarkers of efficacy and tolerability based on the individual’s genotype and/or phenotype of patients. The analysis of either a single marker or a panel of pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic markers may enable the stratification of patients according to their expected therapeutic benefit or the probability of adverse reactions. More recently, the dissection of molecular mechanisms targeted or modulated by cytotoxic drugs has enabled the evaluation of their use in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, which represent one of the newest approaches in cancer therapy. Although some of them represent the dawning of cancer chemotherapy, cytotoxic drugs are still the underpinning of several combination regimens in oncology and haematology.
Prof. Dr. Antonello Di Paolo
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- cytotoxic drugs
- oncology
- hematology
- pharmacokinetics
- pharmacogenetics
- epigenetics
- combination therapies
- efficacy
- tolerability
- predictive markers
- cancer resistance
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.
