Immune dysregulation and signaling pathways in cancer progression, immune escape, and therapy response

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex and evolving ecosystem that plays a critical role in immune evasion, cancer development and progression. It consists of tumor cells, immune cells, stromal cells, blood vessels, extracellular matrix components, and soluble mediators such as cytokines and chemokines. Under physiological conditions, the immune system is capable of recognizing and eliminating transformed cells. However, malignant cells frequently exploit regulatory immune pathways and aberrant signaling networks to evade immune surveillance and establish an immunosuppressive microenvironment.Immune dysregulation within the TME involves multiple cell types, including regulatory T cells, tumor-associated macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and dysfunctional lymphocyte populations. These cells alter cytokine signaling, metabolic pathways, and immune checkpoint networks, ultimately reshaping the tumor microenvironment to favor tumor survival and progression. Understanding how immune dysfunction modifies the TME is therefore essential for improving cancer immunotherapy and identifying novel therapeutic targets.The goal of this Research Topic is to advance our understanding of how immune dysregulation and aberrant immune signaling pathways influence cancer progression, immune escape, and therapeutic response. Although significant progress has been made in the field of cancer immunology, many aspects of the signaling mechanisms that govern interactions between immune cells and tumor cells remain poorly understood. In particular, the mechanisms through which dysregulated immune signaling alters immune cell function, intercellular communication, inflammatory programs, metabolic adaptation, and tumor evolution require further investigation.Recent technological advances, including single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and high-dimensional immune profiling, now provide unprecedented opportunities to dissect the signaling networks that shape tumor-immune interactions. These approaches are revealing new immune cell subsets, novel regulatory circuits, and pathway-level mechanisms that may serve as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.By bringing together contributions from immunologists, oncologists, and systems biologists, this Research Topic aims to highlight emerging concepts and innovative strategies to modulate the tumor immune landscape. Ultimately, the collection seeks to identify actionable insights that can guide the development of next-generation immunotherapies and improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and methodological advances that investigate the role of immune dysregulation and immune signaling pathways in cancer progression, immune escape, and therapy response. Submissions may focus on experimental, translational, clinical, and computational approaches that elucidate the cellular, molecular, and systemic mechanisms underlying tumor-immune communication.Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:• Immune cell heterogeneity and functional plasticity in cancer• Dysregulated immune signaling pathways in tumor progression and immune escape• Crosstalk between tumor cells, stromal components, and immune populations• Cytokine, chemokine, and inflammatory signaling networks in cancer• Immune checkpoint and co-stimulatory signaling pathways• Metabolic regulation of immune signaling in the tumor microenvironment• Role of B cells, T cells, myeloid cells, and innate immune cells in shaping tumor immunity• Mechanisms linking immune dysregulation to therapy resistance or sensitivity• Emerging immunotherapeutic strategies targeting immune signaling pathways• Multi-omics and spatial technologies to study signaling dynamics in tumor–immune interactionsStudies spanning basic, translational, and clinical research are encouraged.This Research Topic aligns with the scope of Frontiers in Immunology’s Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy section, advancing understanding of immunosurveillance, tumor immune escape, and immunotherapy through mechanistic, translational, and clinical investigation of immune signaling in the tumor microenvironment Topic editors: Waqas Nawaz, Awais Ullah Ihsan, Md Sadique Hussain Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81415/immune-dysregulation-and-signaling-pathways-in-cancer-progression-immune-escape-and-therapy-response