When Molecular Therapy was launched 15 years ago, its founders were careful to select for the new journal a title that allowed for flexibility as it established and then evolved its purview over time. The central focus was of course the development of gene therapies to treat disease, but this has since naturally grown to include cell therapies, regaenerative medicine, and oligonucleotide-based therapeutics among myriad other types of experimental therapeutics. The title ensured that the journal could continue to adapt and evolve its purview according to the vision of successive Editors-in-Chief and their editorial teams. In cooperation with our publishing partner, Nature Publishing Group (NPG), the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy's (ASGCT's) flagship journal has in the past few years spawned two new sibling journals based on the open-access online-only publishing model. Molecular Therapy–Nucleic Acids allowed the Society's publishing program to expand further into the area of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics, and Molecular Therapy–Methods & Clinical Development was established to address the need for a forum focusing on methodological advances as well as on the development and refinement of translational gene therapy strategies. The titles of both siblings were similarly chosen to allow sufficient latitude to the editorial teams to nurture unique personalities for the new publications that could adapt with the times.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of a third sibling journal, again following the open-access online-only model in conjunction with NPG. The first issue of the new journal, which is called Molecular Therapy–Oncolytics, will appear the third quarter of this year. “Oncolytics” can be loosely defined as the development of molecular and cellular therapeutics that are designed to specifically target and kill tumor cells and/or engage components of the immune system to do the same. As such, the title affords the journal flexibility to publish studies describing any promising gene and cell therapy targeting cancer.
As the title implies, the burgeoning field of oncolytic virotherapy (OV) will be a central focus. The field originated with the discovery last century that many viruses possess the ability to exploit the very genetic changes in cancer cells that allow the latter to grow unchecked and to avoid aspects of the human immune response to themselves proliferate, and in doing so to kill the tumor cells. Over the succeeding decades, gene therapists have engineered these oncolytic viruses to be more targeted to tumor cells, less toxic to healthy tissues, and more potent as tumor killers. Researchers in the OV field are also discovering how to coax these agents to induce a more effective antitumor response to help destroy the cancer. Many vectors have shown promising results in the clinic, and others are moving quickly toward clinical testing, attracting important industrial interest and investment. As such, the launch of Molecular Therapy–Oncolytics indeed signals maturation of this field.
Of course, the purview of the new journal extends beyond OV; it will also include studies of cells of the immune system that have been engineered to be oncolytic. Early successes treating melanoma with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes have led to efforts to generate T cells whose native receptors are directed to antigens present on other malignancies. More recently, the genetic modification of T cells to express artificial chimeric antigen receptors directed to B-cell malignancies has had spectacular clinical success, attracting substantial industry investment. Other immune system cells such as natural killer (NK) and NK-T cells are also being studied for their potential as oncolytic agents, with efforts made to enhance their function by genetic modification.
In addition to providing a unique forum for work in the fields of OV and T cell–based therapies, the new journal will consider all top-quality, cutting-edge research that employs innovative molecular and cellular approaches that target cancer cells for destruction, whether by viruses, other microorganisms, vaccination, or transfer of cells and/or genes. Molecular Therapy will, of course, continue to publish studies in all these areas when judged to have a sufficient impact and potential appeal to a broader audience of gene and cell therapists, but the new journal will significantly expand our ability to publish in these key areas of recent successes in gene and cell therapy. The growing MT family of journals will remain linked by cross-promotion and by featured commentaries in Molecular Therapy on publications in the sibling journals. In addition, articles that are deemed of excellent quality but of insufficient general interest or impact for the flagship journal will be automatically considered for publication in a suitable sibling journal.
We are also pleased to announce the selection, from a list of excellent applicants, of Yuman Fong as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the new journal. Dr. Fong, the Chairman of Surgery at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California, is best known clinically for his extensive work in the field of hepatobiliary surgery. He was one of the first investigators to introduce engineered viruses into the bloodstream of humans for treatment of cancer, and he is active at coordinating trials of these viruses in international clinical trials. According to Steve Russell, who chaired the ASGCT subcommittee charged with the Editor-in-Chief search, “Dr. Fong is a well-established leader in the field of oncolytic virotherapy. His expertise and knowledge in the field are comprehensive, spanning laboratory research and clinical translation, which explains why he was selected to serve a recent two-year term as chair of the NIH recombinant DNA advisory committee.” The editorial team of the MT family of journals welcomes Dr. Fong and looks forward to another successful addition to the family. Further information on the new journal will be available soon on the MT and ASGCT websites.