Integrating Immunology and Artificial Intelligence in the Pathology of Urologic Cancers

The field of pathology is rapidly evolving toward the integration of molecular and cellular levels, immunology, and digital advances to better understand the complex behaviors of human diseases. Urological cancers, including those of the prostate, bladder, and kidney, exemplify the dynamic interplay between tumor cells and their immune microenvironment, a relationship that shapes disease progression and influences outcomes. Despite the transformative impact of immunotherapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors on certain urological malignancies, there remain significant unresolved questions regarding the specific cellular drivers of treatment resistance, the reliability of current biomarkers, and the implementation of personalized approaches that harmonize clinical, molecular, and computational insights. Recent studies highlight the promise of molecular and immune-based profiling, artificial intelligence (AI), and next-generation pathology tools in refining patient diagnosis, prognosis, and response prediction. However, current efforts are challenged by tumor heterogeneity, limited reproducibility of findings, and the complexities of translating mechanistic insights into clinical practice. This underscores an urgent need for integrative research that bridges basic, translational, and digital pathology to fully harness the immune landscape of urological cancers.This Research Topic aims to use precision medicine strategies that bring together advanced molecular profiling, immune-based biomarkers, and AI-powered analytics with established histopathological assessments. Central objectives include improving patient stratification, unveiling actionable mechanisms of immune escape, pinpointing robust predictive signatures, and accelerating the development of effective, individualized therapies. Specifically, this Research Topic seeks to address critical questions such as how tumor–immune crosstalk shapes the efficacy of immunotherapies, ways to identify and validate novel biomarkers in diverse cohorts, and strategies to overcome resistance through rational combination regimens or engineered cellular therapies. By synthesizing contributions across pre-clinical models, digital pathology, and early-phase clinical data, we aim to enable a paradigm shift in both diagnosis and treatment for patients with urological malignancies. Within this Research Topic, the focus is confined to translational and clinical advances that interrogate the immune microenvironment and leverage precision pathology in the context of prostate, bladder, renal, and related urological cancers. Submissions should be rooted in mechanistic insight, translational value, and relevance to clinical decision-making. We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Dissecting the immune microenvironment of urological malignancies through pathological, molecular, or computational approaches• Novel biomarkers for patient stratification, treatment prediction, and disease monitoring• Mechanisms of tumor–immune interaction and immune evasion• Development and evaluation of innovative immunotherapeutic modalities and rational combination treatments• Integration of artificial intelligence, digital pathology, and multi-omics data in disease modeling and therapy guidance• Ethical, regulatory, and translational challenges in implementing precision immunopathology• Next-Gen Immunotherapies: First-in-class antibodies, bispecifics, CAR-NK/TIL cell therapies, oncolytic viruses, and cancer vaccines; welcome pre-clinical proof-of-concept and early-phase trial data Topic editors: Zijie Wang, Yingqiu Xie, Haowei He Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77781/integrating-immunology-and-artificial-intelligence-in-the-pathology-of-urologic-cancers