2026
July
Turning up the heat: iSBRT and immunotherapy induce immune reprogramming in cold breast tumors in the clinic
July 15, 2026
The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of ER+HER2- high-risk early breast cancer is generally immune-cold, which limits immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) responses. Since radiotherapy may modulate the immune response, it may increase ICB efficacy. However, radiotherapy may also activate the immunosuppressive CD73-adenosine pathway. Based on these hypotheses, De Caluwé et al. conducted a clinical...
Tregs versus Tconv: a battle over metastasis in PDAC
July 8, 2026
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive and difficult-to-treat-tumor type with complex immune dynamics and multiple immune evasion mechanisms at different stages of disease. In work recently published in Science Immunology, Schmiechen et al. unraveled the roles of IFNγ-inducible MHC-I, CD8+ T cells, Tregs, and conventional CD4+ T cells (Tconv) in promoting or...
Exhausted, yet effective: Eomes drives Th-mediated antitumor responses
July 1, 2026
While accumulating evidence suggests an important role for CD4+ T cells in antitumor immunity, the specific subpopulations responsible remain to be defined. Agesta, Ferrand, et al. investigated the function of the transcription factor Eomes in CD4+ T cell antitumor responses, and identified Eomes-responsive antitumor Th populations, with significant analogies to similar Eomes-responsive CD8+...
