Dear Colleagues,

The deregulation of cell cycle is one of the key hallmarks of cancer. The cell cycle cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) play a critical role in the regulation of cell proliferation, by controlling the transition between cell cycle phases, and constitutive CDK activation is a common event in cancer cells. Anyway, more than twenty CDKs have been identified in mammalian cells with a wild range of function beyond cell cycle regulation, including DNA transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair.

To date, CDK4/6 inhibitors have been approved for the treatment of metastatic hormone receptor positive breast cancer, even if several translational studies have proved their efficacy also in other cancer types, and several clinical trials are ongoing to evaluate the effectiveness in different solid tumor types, as either single agents or in combination strategies.

In addition, new selective inhibitors targeting other CDKs are under development and their efficacy has been evaluating in a variety of cancer types.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present a collection of both original studies and/or review, at the preclinical and clinical level, on the use of CDK inhibitors as an antitumoral strategy, to provide insights into their molecular mechanisms of action and possible resistance mechanisms.

Specific sub-topics covered may include but are not limited to the following:

• Evaluation of the efficacy of CDK inhibitors in solid tumor models, as single treatment or in combination with other target agents, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy;
• Identification of specific biomarkers of responsiveness;
• Mechanisms of resistance to CDK inhibitors which inevitably limit their clinical benefit, and strategies to overcome such resistance.

Prof. Dr. Mara A. Bonelli
Guest Editor

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• CDK
• CDK inhibitors
• cell cycle
• cell proliferation
• Cyclin