Topic Editor Qihui Shi is the scientific co-founder of JunHealth, a company aiming to developing single-cell sequencing technologies for clinical applications, and received research funding from BeiGene.

Numerous studies have shown that elevated levels of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood of cancer patients are associated with poor response to treatment and inferior survival probabilities. Despite this clinical significance, the molecular biology of CTCs remains poorly understood. The paucity in molecular information can be attributed to the tremendous technical challenges involved in isolating these extremely rare cells. Recent technological advancements in rare-cell technology, however, have allowed for the reliable enrichment and isolation of CTCs. Consequently, the use of recently developed molecular approaches —e.g., multiplexed QPCR, microarray, and next generation sequencing analyses— to profile CTCs have provided novel insights into the molecular makeup of these tumor cells. This book discusses approaches for enrichment and isolation of CTCs as well as recent advances in comprehensive molecular profiling of CTCs using cutting-edge omics technology.

Squamous cell cancers of the head and neck (SCCHN), also known as head and neck cancers (HNC) encompass malignancies of the oral cavity, larynx, nasopharynx and pharynx, and are diagnosed in over 500,000 patients worldwide each year, accounting for 5% of all malignancies. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 patients develop head and neck cancer annually in the United States, of whom approximately 50% succumb to this cancer. For most cases of SCCHN, treatment is multimodal, often combining surgery or irradiation with chemotherapy; even successfully treated patients frequently experience durable and severe side effects. Improving cure rates and reducing chronic morbidity are urgent clinical needs for head and neck cancer. However, in contrast to cancer types such as breast or prostate that have been much studied and have well-defined biology, until recently, relatively few researchers investigated the molecular basis of HNC, making it difficult to design targeted treatments with better efficacy and less debilitating side effects. This volume will provide an overview of the factors contributing to disease pathogenesis, including the recognition of discrete molecular subtypes with distinct etiology, prognosis, and treatment response. This volume will familiarize the reader with the critical signaling pathways and oncogenic drivers for HNC. It will outline the differences between HPV-positive and HPV-negative disease, and how these differences affect treatment choice and outcome. The book will emphasize developments in the past five years, including the growing understanding of the genomic and epigenomic features of the disease based on analysis of next generation sequencing (NGS) data, and timely topics such as the analysis of HNC stem cell populations, non-coding mRNAs, and inflammatory response. It will address exciting new therapeutic approaches such as the use of immunotherapies to treat HNC patients. Overall, the book will provide the reader with current understanding of the biology and treatment of the disease, and describe timely questions that will guide future research aimed at controlling and curing this disease.

This book is aimed to summarise the key aspects of the role of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in breast cancer, with special attention to their contribution to tumour progression and establishment of metastatic disease. We aim to give a clear overview of the knowledge about CTCs, framed in the context of breast cancer, by analysing basic and clinical research carried out so far. In a broader sense, we will address what are the main clinical needs of this disease based on its molecular heterogeneity (subtypes) and lay out the knowledge and understanding that CTCs are giving about it and how they are contributing and can still improve the better monitoring and management of breast cancer patients. We will discuss the evidences of the use of CTCs as a tool to monitor cancer progression and therapy response, based on the prognostic and predictive value they have, as well as a tool to unravel mechanisms of resistance to therapy and to identify new biomarkers allowing to predict therapy success. Moreover, we will analyse the main aspects of ongoing clinical trials and how they can contribute to determine the clinical utility of CTCs as a breast cancer biomarker. We will also touch upon general knowledge or basic notions of the biology of the metastatic process in epithelial cancers, in order to understand the origin and biology of CTCs. In this sense, we will pay special attention to EMT (epithelial to mesenchymal transition), dormancy and minimal residual disease, three key aspects that determine the outcome of the disease. We will also cover general aspects on the isolation and characterization techniques applies to the study of CTCs, and also the possibilities that the study of CTCs, as a biomarker with biological function, is opening in terms of understanding the biology of metastatic cells and the identification of therapeutic targets based on the functional and molecular characterization of CTCs. Lastly, we will try to foresee the future of CTCs in terms of clinical application and implementation in the clinical routine.

Cancer will remain a global major health problem unless new diagnostic, prognostic, and management approaches are discovered to address both loss of life and quality of life. Here we summarize the general physiology, pathology, heterogeneity, and evolution of cancer, current status, limitations and challenges associated with prevention, incidence, treatment, survival, and mortality, as well as future directions with regards to solid tumors. Perspectives are provided on how to improve pre-clinical understandings, outcomes, and patient care. Further, this comprehensive, timely overview of the literature has educational value as part of an academic course, seminar, or as a supplementary text.

Precision medicine is an emerging practice by which clinicians aim to deliver a personalized treatment program to affected patients based on information gained from their individual clinical and biological profiles. In the context of precise cancer immunotherapy, multi-omics, high-throughput sequencing, big data, and other approaches serve to screen new predictive factors for immunotherapy response and prognosis in cancer patients.

Molecular medicine is an applied science focused on human genes/transcripts, proteins, metabolites, and metabolic networks that describes molecular and cellular processes of health and disease onset and progression. Molecular medicine-based integrative identification and characterization of biomarker targets and their clinical translations is essential to explain/decipher the mechanism(s) underlying physiological pathways and pathological conditions, and acquire cell-targeted early interventional and therapeutic strategies in the context of precision medicine and public health. Principally, Molecular Medicine provides an overview of the latest headlines/developments of systems and molecular medicine, highlighting the emerging high-throughput technologies, promising potential applications, and progress in biomedical research and development strategies.

Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide among both men and women. Recent advances in prevention, screening and management in the past decade have led to significant improvements in survival and quality of life. Local treatments like minimally invasive surgery, radiotherapy, and image-guided ablation have contributed to improving the effectiveness and tolerability of potentially curative treatments in early-stage, locally advanced, and oligometastatic/oligoprogressive disease. Chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and palliative local therapy options have expanded rapidly, with new regimens showing improved outcomes even for those with widely metastatic disease. This book comprehensively reviews the evidence that has driven personalized medicine, based on a variety of multidisciplinary perspectives by international lung cancer experts.

Computational Immunology: Applications focuses on different mathematical models, statistical tools, techniques, and computational modelling that helps in understanding complex phenomena of the immune system and its biological functions. The book also focuses on the latest developments in computational biology in designing of drugs, targets, biomarkers for early detection and prognosis of a disease. It highlights the applications of computational methods in deciphering the complex processes of the immune system and its role in health and disease. This book discusses the most essential topics, including Next generation sequencing (NGS) and computational immunology Computational modelling and biology of diseases Drug designing Computation and identification of biomarkers Application in organ transplantation Application in disease detection and therapy Computational methods and applications in understanding of the invertebrate immune system S Ghosh is MSc, PhD, PGDHE, PGDBI, is PhD from IICB, CSIR, Kolkata, awarded the prestigious National Scholarship from the Government of India. She has worked and published extensively in glycobiology, sialic acids, immunology, stem cells and nanotechnology. She has authored several publications that include books and encyclopedia chapters in reputed journals and books.