Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics A – MCTA

Topics

• Delineation of the anti-cancer mechanism(s) of action of emerging therapies at molecular, cellular, and organism levels. Entities studied will include small molecules, peptides, protein degraders, proteins, cellular and genetic experimental therapeutics.
• Mechanistic effects of emerging therapies targeting DNA synthesis and repair, epigenetic regulation, cell cycle arrest, cell death, protein stability, RNA processing, translation, post-translational modification, metabolism, migration, metastasis, and other cancer-causing processes. 
• Mechanistic validation of and functional evaluation of novel molecular targets, including multidisciplinary studies that span biochemical, structural, cellular, and in vivo characterizations (initial SAR to determine utility/validity of target).
• Mechanistic validation of lead hits identified from screens or structure-based design, including small molecule, computational, or other drug discovery technologies
• Mechanisms of action of drugs targeting organismal conditions related to cancer such as cachexia.

Shared Interests and Overlaps

There are shared interests with Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics B (MCTB) in mechanisms of action of cancer therapeutic agents. Applications that focus on mechanism of action and resistance to established or repurposed cancer therapeutics may be reviewed in MCTB. Applications that focus on emerging therapeutics and validation of novel molecular targets may be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests with Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics C (MCTC) in mechanism of action of cancer therapeutic agents. Applications focused mechanism of action of established cancer therapeutics and combination studies that include early pre-clinical drug toxicity, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic may be reviewed in MCTC. Applications that focus on the identification and functional validation of novel molecular targets and therapeutic agents may be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests with Tumor Host Interactions (THI) in the investigation of the effects of tumor microenvironment. Applications that focus on the basic mechanisms of interactions between tumor and host system may be reviewed in TME. Applications that focus on targeting tumor microenvironment may be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests with Cancer Cell Biology (CCB) in the study of the signaling pathways and cancer cell metabolism. Applications that focus on signal transduction mechanisms and modulation of cancer cell metabolism in neoplastic cells may be reviewed in CCB. Applications that focus on targeting tumor metabolomic processes and developing signaling pathway-targeted therapies may be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests with Tumor Evolution, Heterogeneity and Metastasis (TEHM) in the investigation of tumor initiating cells and metastasis. Applications that focus on the use of anti-cancer drugs mainly to investigate the role of stem cells in tumor metastasis and to study basic mechanisms of tumor progression and metastasis may be reviewed in TEHM. Applications that involve clinical translational targeting of tumor initiating cells and metastasis may be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests with Biochemical and Cellular Oncogenesis (BCO) in identification of novel cancer therapeutic targets. Applications that focus on identification of novel protein targets using therapeutic agents as tool can be reviewed in BCO. Applications that focus on mechanistic validation and functional evaluation of novel molecular targets and therapeutic agents for clinical translation can be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests with Gene Regulation in Cancer (GRIC) in gene regulatory mechanisms in oncology. Applications that focus on the use anti-neoplastic agents as tools to examine basic mechanisms involving gene regulation in cancer may be reviewed in GRIC. Applications that focus on mechanistic studies of the effects of novel anti-neoplastic agents on gene regulation may be reviewed in MCTA.

There are shared interests in the therapeutic evaluation of the anti-cancer drug effect with Advancing Therapeutics A (ATA). Applications that focus on the mechanism of action of novel anticancer agents and the impact of drug properties on anti-cancer drug function may be reviewed in MCTA. Applications that focus on the pre-clinical development and evaluation of novel anti-cancer therapeutics and rational combinations of cytotoxic drugs with novel agents may be reviewed in ATA.

There are shared interests in developing conventional and molecularly targeted agents with Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology C (DMPC). Applications that focus on mechanistic validation of novel agents at the molecular, cellular, or target tissue level are reviewed in MCTA. Applications that focus on early stages of drug discovery involving synthesis, validation/ optimization of new anti-cancer therapeutic agents and in vivo evaluation of new drugs are reviewed in DMPC.