JITC Letter from the Editor - December 2019

Dear JITC Readers,

This is the final JITC digest of 2019, and we are ending the year on a historic note with December’s issue containing the most-ever papers published in a single month since the journal’s inception! It has been an exciting year for JITC, and we look forward to what the future holds as the immunotherapy field continues to expand and evolve.

The highlighted papers in this month’s JITC digest truly exemplify some of the most exciting areas of research in our field, spanning preclinical models to human trials and adding new insight into the contribution of the tumor microenvironment to disease progression and immunotherapy resistance as well as the development of novel immunotherapeutic agents.

Be sure to read the Editor Picks below about microenvironment-targeting therapeutics for the reprogramming of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and for the selective depletion of tumor-associated macrophages, gene-edited “off-the-shelf” CAR T cells for the treatment of glioblastoma, preclinical validation for a new checkpoint inhibitor target in ovarian cancer, newly described mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance in melanoma, a deeper understanding of the two types of secondary bone metastases in prostate cancer, and a phase 2 trial describing dendritic cell vaccines for prostate cancer that that induce clinically meaningful immune responses.

With best regards,

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

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

President's Message - December 2019

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to begin my final President's Message of 2019 by expressing our sincere appreciation to the 4,800 cancer immunotherapy professionals who attended our society's 34th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs (SITC 2019) in National Harbor last month. The research findings presented at the meeting demonstrated the exciting progress in our field at the bench and the bedside and point us in the direction of finding improved treatments for our patients. The path to a cure for most patients remains difficult, but SITC 2019 again showed that our growing community is capable and committed to achieve this mission.

I'd like to share important highlights of the past year which were possible only because of the outstanding efforts of our members, society leadership and SITC staff. Beyond the clear success that was SITC 2019, our society hosted numerous educational and scientific programs throughout the year, including Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy™ series around North America and workshops on cancer immune responsiveness and adoptive cellular therapies. Additionally, SITC launched new and/or expanded several initiatives to expand opportunities for our members including the Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network, Cancer Immunotherapy Winter School and the SITC Volunteer Portal. We should all feel proud of one key milestone for this year; SITC eclipsed 3,000 members for the first time in its history – an increase of more than 500 members this year.

In the past 11 months, we also developed bold and ambitious plans for SITC's immediate future. Earlier this year, executive leadership confirmed our society's 2019–21 strategic goals, to include the following:

• Education and Scientific Exchange: Serve as the leading resource for information and education on cancer immunotherapy 
• Professional Standards: Set industry standards for the field of cancer immunotherapy in order to position SITC as the authority on immunotherapy of cancer 
• Global Access and Impact: Advance the science and application of cancer immunotherapy worldwide 
• Policy and Advocacy: Inform and influence the science and research, regulation, as well as quality of care and quality of access impacted by public policy, ensuring the patient voice is heard and recognized 
• Science and Research: Challenge the thinking and seek the best research in the exploration and development of tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy 
• Leadership Development: Cultivate the next generation of leaders and innovators in tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy

These six strategic goals are extensions of our historic goals and provide an ambitious agenda and direction for our society's leaders in the next few years. Together, work to achieve each of the goals will bring SITC closer to its ultimate mission, which is to improve cancer patient outcomes by advancing the science, development and application of cancer immunology and immunotherapy. In January, I'll report on plans to fulfill our six strategic goals in 2020.

There is still time in the current year to make progress on one of our most important objectives, leadership development. I invite you to join me in supporting the future of our field through a donation to SITC's Forward Fund. Since 2012, the Forward Fund has awarded more than $3.2 million toward programs, grants and initiatives that support early career scientists through research and education. Please consider making an end-of-year donation to the Forward Fund by Dec. 31, 2019, and your gift will be matched by an anonymous donor.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed toward the success of SITC in 2019. I look forward to the year ahead, working with all of my colleagues, to help SITC advance science and clinical care of cancer patients. Finally, I wanted to share a quick reminder about our online event on Wednesday (tomorrow). SITC will live stream its Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy™ (ACI) program (which is also occurring in-person in Nashville, Tenn.) on Dec. 4, beginning at 4:25 p.m. EST. ACIs are CME-, CPE-, CNE- and MOC-certified programs featuring nearly five hours of engaging cancer immunotherapy education that is free for healthcare professionals in the clinical setting, students and patient advocates. Click here to learn more and register for tomorrow's webcast.

I wish you a happy and safe holiday season.

Sincerely,

Mario Sznol, MD
SITC President