Cancer Immunology Reserch

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Mar 19. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-1138. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The variation in immunotherapy responses among patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is attributed to the high heterogeneity of tumor immune components, in which macrophages play a key role. Hence, identification of key macrophage subpopulations associated with immunotherapy efficacy could provide important … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Mar 19. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-0605. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT FOXM1 is highly expressed in various cancer types and considered a key driver of cancer progression. Accordingly, we evaluated the immunogenicity of FOXM1 and investigated the feasibility of targeting this transcription factor using T cell receptor (TCR) engineering. We identified epitopes derived … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Mar 17. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-24-1216. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT In humans and mice, the T cell receptor (TCR) of each effector/memory T cell clone recognizes from one to several cognate peptide-MHC complexes (pMHC). Limited knowledge on TCR repertoire specificities restricts our capacity to rationally interpret this information, both diagnostically and in … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Mar 13. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-0651. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Interleukin-1 (IL-1) plays dual functions in cancer. It promotes cancer-related inflammation and progression, but also influences leukocyte functional activation. IL-1 receptor 2 (IL-1R2) functions as an IL-1 decoy receptor, inhibiting IL-1 activity. Here, we investigated the contribution of IL-1R2 in tuning IL-1-dependent … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Mar 4. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-0950. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Merkel cell carcinomas (MCC) typically arise from clonal integration of the Merkel cell polyomavirus. Immunogenic viral oncoproteins then lead to tumorigenesis. Oncoprotein-specific T cells are essential for anti-MCC immunity, but it is unclear whether B cells promote tumor control. Here, we analyzed … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Mar 4;14(3):373. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-14-3-WWR. NO ABSTRACT PMID:41777151 | DOI:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-14-3-WWR

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Feb 27. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-0611. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Providing cytokine signaling is a key strategy to boost the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. However, the individual roles of key downstream mediators, STAT3 and STAT5, remain incompletely understood. In this study, we engineered CAR T cells to … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Feb 27. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-1229. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Natural killer (NK) cells represent key effectors of antitumor immunity, yet emerging evidence highlights populations with distinct roles in cancer. Despite such expanded diversity within the NK cell repertoire, we lack an understanding of how this heterogeneity impacts immune responses and downstream … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Feb 25. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-1060. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), including those that block PD-1/PD-L1, have revolutionized therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. However, most patients demonstrate no clinical benefit or acquire resistance, even when tumors express PD-L1. This highlights the critical need to dissect tumor … Read more

Cancer Immunol Res. 2026 Feb 25. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-0758. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The existence of intra-tumoral tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) has been reported to be correlated with reduced recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the cellular characteristics and driving mechanism of TLSs in HCC remain largely unknown. In this study, we compared clinical outcomes … Read more