An Exciting Collaboration between AACR and CRI

In concert with this first issue of Cancer Immunology Research, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) are pleased to announce a new collaboration between the organizations. The collaboration will involve sharing editorial resources as well as devoting a portion of the content of Cancer Immunology Research to CRI-related events and activities.

Since its inception 60 years ago, CRI has been a major driver of progress in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. The late Dr. Lloyd J. Old served as CRI′s leader for much of this time, and he emphasized the importance of maintaining the highest level of intellectual rigor and creativity in approaching the fundamental issues of the antitumor host response. Dr. Old envisioned that detailed, complementary studies in experimental tumor models and cancer patients would, in the fullness of time, yield efficacious and broadly active immunotherapies. The recent clinical successes of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1/L1 monoclonal antibodies, adoptive T-cell therapy, and cancer vaccines suggest that the promise of investing in basic and translational research in cancer immunology is now coming to fruition.

In addition to funding investigations in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, CRI, along with the Academy of Cancer Immunology, launched an important new journal, Cancer Immunity, in 2001. At the time, Cancer Immunity was the only journal devoted to all aspects of cancer immunology, and Dr. Old was its first Editor-in-Chief. In the ensuing years, Cancer Immunity has disseminated many types of influential scientific content important to cancer immunologists, including original research articles, reviews, hypotheses, case reports, and conference proceedings. Dr. James P. Allison, the current Editor-in-Chief, notes, “Cancer Immunity served a critical role at a time when efforts in cancer immunology and immunotherapy had not yet entered the mainstream of cancer research. The work of the journal emphasized the commitment of CRI and Lloyd Old to accelerating progress in the field.” Cancer Immunity will publish its final issue this month, and the editors of Cancer Immunology Research would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge its significant contributions to the field.

The collaboration between AACR and CRI will be proudly shown on the cover and masthead of each issue of Cancer Immunology Research, and Dr. Allison has agreed to serve as a Deputy Editor. The Cancer Immunity content from all past issues will be relocated to the Cancer Immunology Research online journal site, allowing readers additional access to preeminent cancer immunology content in one location.

This exciting undertaking will further accelerate progress in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. By coupling the longstanding commitment of CRI to tumor immunology with the breadth and depth of the AACR investment in all aspects of cancer biology and medicine, Cancer Immunology Research will serve as a link between immunology and the larger cancer research community. Dr. Glenn Dranoff, Founding Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Immunology Research, states, “The AACR–CRI collaboration builds upon the vision of Lloyd Old to bring to the benefit of cancer patients the best basic science possible and the most informative clinical trials. Through fostering productive interactions among academic investigators, industry, and patient advocates, Cancer Immunology Research will help to accelerate the control and prevention of cancer through effective manipulation of antitumor immunity.”