What We're Reading
Cancer Immunol Res December 1 2016 4 (12) 995-995;
Immunogenomics were used to identify tumor-specific neoantigens in two well characterized models of glioblastoma. Endogenous immune responses harbored neoantigen-specific T cells within the brain and lymph nodes, providing a tractable system for additional preclinical immunotherapeutic studies in these systems.
Immunotherapy for cancer can be obstructed by immune tolerance, in which antitumor T cells are rendered dysfunctional in the tumor microenvironment. It is shown here that IL2:antibody complexes can reverse established T cell tolerance and restore antitumor immunity.
PD-1 regulates T-cell antitumor responses. PD-1 has now also been found to inhibit B-cell antitumor immunity that is based upon the recognition of tumor-specific glycans, revealing an alternative mechanism by which PD-1 blockade may elicit antitumor responses.
In malignant pleural mesothelioma, immunohistochemical expression of PD-L1 does not accurately predict whether patients respond to treatment with PD-1 pathway inhibitors. Comprehensive immunoprofiling by flow cytometry uncovered immunophenotypes that improve our understanding of response and resistance to checkpoint blockade.
The survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients could be predicted with the use of a discriminant function using as parameters tumor cell expression of PD-L1, Galectin-9, and XAGE1 (GAGED2a), and CD4 and CD8 T-cell infiltration.
Many patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas do not respond to current immunotherapies. Antitumor responses, with protective memory and control of distant tumors, developed in mouse models after treatment with PD-L1 mAb and synthetic cyclic dinucleotides.
Targeting CD47 and CD20 to stimulate macrophage phagocytosis was effective in preclinical xenograft models of canine lymphoma in mice. This immunotherapeutic strategy has the potential to benefit companion animals and to inform future targeting studies in humans.