JITC Letter from the Editor - November 2019

Dear JITC Readers,

You are receiving this email in the weeks after SITC’s 2019 Annual Meeting and Pre-Conference Programs. This year’s meeting was a smashing success, truly highlighting the broad spectrum of basic science and clinical and translational research in immunotherapy. It is an exciting time for the field, and we are looking forward to possibly seeing some of the data presented at the meeting in upcoming issues of JITC.

Additionally, I am delighted to announce that Dr. Jason Luke, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center, has accepted the role of JITC’s social media editor! Dr. Luke will be managing the journal’s recently launched twitter handle. Be sure to take a moment to follow @JITCancer.

This month’s JITC digest exemplifies the interdisciplinary nature of immunotherapy research, with everything from basic insight into T cell metabolism and immunology to clinical trial results and next-generation sequencing.

“TLR9 acts as a sensor for tumor-released DNA to modulate anti-tumor immunity after chemotherapy” by Tae Hung and colleagues reveals new insight into how platinum-based chemotherapy can act as an immune adjuvant through innate immune danger-sensing pathways.

A review by Bridget P. Keenan et al., “Immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma: the complex interface between inflammation, fibrosis, and the immune response,” describes the delicate balance between protective immunity in the liver and pathological inflammation that may lead to cirrhosis, fibrosis and cancer.

Beatris Mastelic-Gavillet et al. elucidate how adenosine within the tumor microenvironment contributes to disease progression by metabolic suppression of effector T cells. The paper, “Adenosine mediates functional and metabolic suppression of peripheral and tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells,” outlines potential biomarkers to monitor future immunotherapies targeting adenosine signaling.

In “Systemic and local immunity following adoptive transfer of NY-ESO-1 SPEAR T cells in synovial sarcoma,” Indu Ramachandran et al. provide the first evidence for affinity-enhanced receptor engineered SPEAR T cells infiltrating solid tumors—a promising result for the treatment of synovial sarcoma and other malignancies that fail to respond to immune checkpoint blockade.

Finally, Zijun Y. Xu-Monette and colleagues undertake impressive and comprehensive ultra-deep sequencing to identify differential links between somatic hypermutation in immunoglobulin heavy and light chains and clinical outcomes in diffuse large B cell lymphomas in, “Immunoglobulin somatic hypermutation has clinical impact in DLBCL and potential implications for immune checkpoint blockade and neoantigen-based immunotherapies.”

I hope you enjoy this issue!

With best regards,

Pedro J. Romero, MD
Editor-in-Chief, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer

To view the entire November 2019 JITC Digest, please click here. 

JITC Letter from the Editor - January 2019

Dear JITC Readers,

In the January edition of the JITC Digest, there are four noteworthy articles of which I would like to draw special attention. First, the article “Novel TLR2-binding adjuvant induces enhanced T cell responses and tumor eradication,” by Gijs G. Zom et al. reports novel murine data demonstrating the enhanced immunological potency of the novel TLR2-ligand, Amplivant (AV), as an adjuvant in cancer immunotherapy. Such results lay the foundation for further clinical testing of AV-synthetic long peptide (SLP) conjugates.

Next, the research article, “1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate released by prostate Cancer cell inhibit T cell proliferation and function by targeting SHP1/cytochrome c oxidoreductase/ROS Axis,” by Yutao Yan et al. establishes a crucial immunosuppressive mechanism utilized in prostate cancer by which metabolites released by prostate cancer cells directly impair T cell immunity and anti-tumor functionality.

Furthermore, the article, “Agonist redirected checkpoint, PD1-Fc-OX40L, for cancer immunotherapy,” by George Fromm et al. details the development and characterization of Agonist Redirected Checkpoint™ (ARC), a dual-sided Fc fusion protein platform for the linking of specific checkpoint and costimulatory pathways. Fromm’s group specifically reports on the anti-tumor response and potential therapeutic activity of the prototype ARC molecule, PD1-Fc-OX40L, for both human and mouse.

Finally, Larissa S. Carnevalli et al.’s article, “PI3K-alpha/delta inhibition promotes anti-tumor immunity through direct enhancement of effector CD8+ T-cell activity,” examines the immune response elicited by AZD8835, a dual PI3K-alpha/delta inhibitor, through preclinical syngeneic tumor models and determines how differential dosing of the inhibitor affects anti-tumor immunity through interactions with the tumor immune microenvironment.

With best regards,

Pedro J. Romero, MD
Editor-in-Chief, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer

To view the entire January 2019 JITC Digest, please click here.