Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science.
Its scope is unique. The term "oncotarget" encompasses all molecules, pathways, cellular functions, cell types, and even tissues that can be viewed as targets relevant to cancer as well as other diseases. The term was introduced in the inaugural Editorial, Introducing Oncotarget.
As of January 1, 2022, Oncotarget has shifted to a continuous publishing model. Papers will now be published continuously within yearly volumes in their final and complete form and then quickly released to Pubmed.
Publication Alerts
Subscribe to receive alerts once a paper has been published by Oncotarget.
On December 23, 2022, Oncotarget server experienced a DDoS attack. As a result, Oncotarget site was inaccessible for a few hours. Oncotarget team swiftly dealt with the situation and took it under control.
This malicious action will be reported to the FBI.
On August 25, 2022, the Office of Science and Technology Policy announced a new government policy legislating the immediate public release of all United States-funded research publications by 2025. Learn more here and here.
On May 23, 2023, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy, and equitable scholarly publishing. The Council calls for immediate and unrestricted open access to publishing research involving public funds. Learn more.
Prostate cancer (PCa) is ranked as the second leading cause of cancer-related death among American men excluding skin cancer. In this new editorial, researchers Yang Yi, Yanqiang Li, Kaifu Chen, and Qi Cao from Northwestern University’sFeinberg School of Medicine discuss a well-known oncogenic driver in PCa: enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2)—canonically known for the functions as the catalytic subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) that deposes histone H3 lysine 27 mono, di-, and tri-methylation (H3K27me1-3) and represses transcription.
“Although the oncogenic role of EZH2 mainly relies on its enzymatic activity and the PRC2, accumulating evidence suggests that targeting the lysine methyltransferase activity of EZH2 alone is ineffective in treating EZH2-dependent malignancies including PCa [4, 5].”
Hence, deeply investigating the multifaceted tumorigenic functions of EZH2 will shed new light on understanding the etiology of PCa. It is noteworthy that two recent studies published in Nature Cell Biology and Oncogene by Yi et al. described previously unrecognized roles of EZH2 in regulation of translation and coactivation of transcription, respectively. In both cases, EZH2 exerts oncogenic functions independently of PRC2 and H3K27me3 to promote tumorigenesis and aggressiveness in PCa.
“In summary, both articles by Yi et al. emphasized the significance of non-canonical functions of EZH2 during PCa development, which may provide novel insights into the advancement of EZH2-targeting strategies to treat PCa patients. In fact, a new wave has been ushed for the discovery of EZH2 inhibitors to eliminate both the catalytic and non-catalytic activities of EZH2 [12–14]. Will these newly developed EZH2 degraders be successfully applied in PCa therapy? Will additional noncanonical functions of EZH2 be characterized in the PCa model? Let’s eagerly wait and see.”
About Oncotarget: Oncotarget (a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal) aims to maximize research impact through insightful peer-review; eliminate borders between specialties by linking different fields of oncology, cancer research and biomedical sciences; and foster application of basic and clinical science.
To learn more about Oncotarget, visit Oncotarget.com and connect with us on social media:
