Open access, Commentary/Editorials
Shared epitopes create safety and efficacy concerns in several cancer vaccines
Tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) are the targets of several therapeutic cancer vaccines. However, many TAAs contain epitopes identical to unintended targets, creating shared epitopes with other human proteins in normal tissues. Moreover, for some TAAs…
Commentary on differential impact of TIM-3 ligands on NK cell function
T-cell immunoglobin and mucin-domain containing molecule 3 (TIM-3) is an immune checkpoint receptor and a target for immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs). Unfortunately in human patients the success rate of anti-TIM-3 ICB remains rather limited. Multiple…
Systematic identification and targeting of master regulator checkpoints (MRC) governing tumor microenvironment-mediated immune evasion
Abrogating the immunoevasive role of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) represents a critical yet still elusive challenge in cancer treatment. Progress in this area has been hampered by both technological limitations and incomplete understanding…
Potentiation of cancer immunogenicity by targeting PARP
A team of scientists led by Quigley Goa demonstrates that Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi) can induce tumor cell death in a manner that allows immune cells to better recognize and attack the tumor. Specifically, PARPi are approved…
SITC perspective: leveraging patient enrichment biomarkers to accelerate early phase IO drug development
Cancer immunotherapy (IO) enables patients to live well with cancer for many years, or even be cured. Several investigational IO agents recently failed in early-phase or late-phase trials, leading some to doubt the future of IO. Patient heterogeneity …
Reciprocal immune-epithelial interaction during breast cancer induction
The notion of immune editing and its defined phases (elimination, equilibrium, and escape), once a transformed cell emerges, is now well established. What occurs prior to, and may in fact impact, transformation—inflammation, initiation, and ince…
Commentary on “Targeted release of a bispecific fusion protein SIRP{alpha}/Siglec-10 by oncolytic adenovirus reinvigorates tumor-associated macrophages to improve therapeutic outcomes in solid tumors”
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), long exploited by cancers to evade immune detection, can now be reprogrammed into potent antitumor effectors through cutting-edge viral engineering. In a landmark study published in the Journal for Immunotherapy of…
Pancreatic cancer cell-intrinsic transglutaminase-2 promotes T cell suppression through microtubule-dependent secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains resistant to immunotherapy due to a highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Lahusen et al identify transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) as a critical tumor cell-intrinsic regulator of immune suppression in…