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Page 2 of 3 Potdar. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2020;6:38 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2020.75

benefits against cancer, especially the application of immune checkpoint inhibitors, cell therapies, and
vaccines. In this Special Issue on immunotherapy of cancer, we have invited pioneer scientists and
clinicians involved in the latest work in this area to contribute their original manuscripts, case reports,
clinical studies, and reviews that focus on immunotherapy for curing cancer.

There is an interesting paper written by Dr. Thibault Gauduchon from Lyon France, who explained
that there is a great improvement in the cure of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck cancer by
changing the therapeutic management with immunotherapy using various checkpoint inhibitors or small
molecules. They further highlighted that the checkpoint inhibitors are the first to be validated in second-
line treatment with programmed death-1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors to increase
their effectiveness. The major goal of this paper by Dr. Gauduchon et al. is to provide an update on the
possibilities of current immunotherapy in the management of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cacinoma.

Snaar-Jagalska et al. from Leiden University, Netherlands, demonstrated the importance of inhibition of
CXCR4 signaling in cancer metastasis by using the zebrafish xenograft model as a translational tool for
anti-cancer discovery. This is a very important paper for scientists who are working on experimental cancer
biology for drug discovery programs in cancer immunotherapy. Finally, they addressed the translational
impact of targeting CXCR4 signaling in the tumor microenvironment for the treatment of metastatic
cancer.

Matthew Spector et al. from the University of Michigan, Michigan, USA, reviewed novel immunotherapeutic
approaches in head and neck cancer. They further stated that pembrolizumab is now approved as first-
line immunotherapy for head and neck cancer. However, there are still low response rates in the cure of
this cancer and therefore additional strategies need to be implemented. This review summarizes the most
common immune disruptions, checkpoint inhibitors identified in head and neck cancer, and discusses
ongoing approaches aimed at targeting the tumor immune microenvironment.

Professor Giovanni LO Re, a well-known oncologist from CRO Oncology Pordenone Aviano, Italy,
documented his experience with an exceptional young inoperable patient for LA head metastatic pancreatic
ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), treated with seven cycles of Nab-Paclitaxel-Gemcitabine (Nab-PCT-GEM)
and RT 50 Gy/15 fractions combined to biweekly GEM and salvage FOLFIRINOX having five-year survival.
He further stated that this is because this patient has travelled 15,000 km on foot, suggestive that his “walking
therapy” may have helped this PDAC patient to survival more time. Dr. Giovanni well explained how a
physical activity such as walking has helped in boosting the immunity of PDAC patients and increased
survival rate. It is an interesting observation to note for many oncologists who are treating PDAC and other
types of cancer: by implementing this simple strategy in their patients, they may have better survival.

In this Special Issue, we are lucky to have received a paper from Professor Porunelloor A. Mathew from
UNT Health Centre, Texas, USA, who reviewed his experience working on Lectin-Like transcript 1 (LLT1)
as an immunotherapeutic target for triple-negative breast and prostate cancer. Dr. Mathew suggested that
blocking inhibitory signals to NK cells using monoclonal antibodies to LLT1 could enhance the lysis of
prostate cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells by NK cells. His lab further demonstrated
that higher expression of LLT1 in TNBC and prostate cancer cells increased lysis of cancer cells after
blocking LLT1 with monoclonal antibodies and may offer a potential target for breast and prostate cancer
treatment. I hope this will be useful to many of our special issue readers when implementing this work in
the cure of prostate and triple-negative breast cancers.

In this special issue, we included an article from Professor Kimberly Webster, a Medical Social Science
expert from Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, USA who developed the Functional