Cell Biology of Cancer 2018

Defining how cells malfunction in disease pathogenesis and pathology is foundational for clinical studies. To develop new therapeutic strategies against tumors, fundamental questions need to be addressed at the cellular level. What are the drivers of transformation, tumor growth, and metastasis? What defines the genetic, transcriptomic, and metabolic signatures of cancer cells? What is the impact of metabolism on the cell?s epigenetic landscape? What are the roles of mitochondria and autophagy in cancer, and the roles of the microenvironment in shaping the tumor? What controls the genomic (in)stability of tumor cells, their differentiation program and proliferative capacity?

Ahead of the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, the JCB Editorial team has assembled a special collection of recent, exciting JCB articles that explores recent advances in cancer biology. We focus this selection on epigenetics, genetics, signaling, metabolism, migration, and the interaction between the tumor and its microenvironment. We celebrate the progress made to understand the cell biology of tumors and look forward to the follow-up studies helping to bring these innovative, foundational results to patient care.

KEYWORDS:

tumor suppressor, invasion, tumorigenesis, epigenetics, metabolism, metastasis, cancer, migration, oncogene, signaling