2020
September
An unconventional cDC outcome of IL-2 immunotherapy
September 30, 2020
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) treatment was the first FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy, achieving robust and curative responses in metastatic melanoma and renal cell cancer in the 1980s-90s and paving the way for advances in the decades since [1]. Mechanistically, IL-2 has been understood to primarily influence T cell expansion and activation. However, the role of IL-...
Local glucocorticoid production results in dysfunctional T cells in the tumor
September 23, 2020
One of the ways the tumor microenvironment (TME) shapes the antitumor immune response is through triggering the presence of exhausted, dysfunctional CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Many of the factors contributing to the induction of dysfunctional cells remain largely unknown, but could serve as novel immunotherapy targets. Acharya and Madi et al. recently described...
IFNγ signaling paves the way for effective checkpoint blockade
September 16, 2020
In recent years, researchers have made much progress in understanding the therapeutic response to checkpoint blockade strategies, but to further improve the success rate, clues might be found in a deeper investigation of the mechanisms behind the response. In a recent publication in Cancer Cell, Grasso et al. describe their analysis of a...
Early antigen exposure sets a predetermined path towards T cell exhaustion
September 9, 2020
In past studies, researchers have identified a subset of T cells that serve as precursors to exhausted T cells. While these cells show some features of exhaustion, they maintain high proliferative potential and are able to both self-renew and replenish populations of exhausted effector T cells that mediate control in chronic viral infections...
Stromal cells affect immune infiltrate in triple-negative breast cancer
September 2, 2020
As one of the the main components of tumor stroma, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play essential roles in the tumor microenvironment (TME), including in remodeling of the extracellular matrix, metastasis, and inflammation, making them interesting therapeutic targets. However, much remains unknown about their phenotypes, functions, and relationships with the immune infiltrate. In work recently...
