The Sentinel

THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SOCIETY FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER (SITC).

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Letter From the Editor - November


Hello JITC Readers,

I want to begin this edition of the JITC digest by thanking everybody who stopped by the meet-the-editor session at the booth at SITC’s 36th Annual Meeting and Pre-Conference Programs—it was wonderful to see JITC readers in vivo and discuss cutting-edge science in person.

One of the highlights of the meeting was presenting awards to the authors of the best papers published in JITC over the past year. You can find links to the award-winning papers across categories in this month’s special feature. Of course, selecting just one paper from each category for the prize was a difficult task given the exceptional quality of research in the journal, so be sure to browse some of the popular papers from the archives for further reading.

I also want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to James L. Gulley, MD, PhD, FACP on receiving the 2021 Pedro J. Romero Service to JITC Award. James is not only an outstanding clinician-scientist, but also an insightful and generous colleague whose vision has been invaluable in making JITC the top-tier journal it is today.

Also central to JITC’s continued upward trajectory are the high-quality papers published each month, and the highlights in this edition are no exception.

Microsatellite stable colorectal and pancreatic cancers have historically been unamenable to immunotherapy approaches, yet Meggy Suarez-Carmona and colleagues report promising results from a phase I/II trial evaluating pembrolizumab plus antagonism of CXCL12 for these challenging tumors.

The groundwork for a universal donor platform for adoptive cell therapies is set by Marie Tourret et al who demonstrate that the mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells that recognize microbial riboflavin-derived antigens have virtually zero alloreactive potential.

Compelling data to inform sequencing decisions for first-line ipilimumab plus nivolumab over BRAF/MEK inhibition for the treatment of BRAF-mutant melanoma brain metastases is provided by Peter Kar Han Lau and colleagues who find very low response rates with combination immunotherapy and evidence for resistance to anti-PD-1 in tumors treated with dabrafenib plus trametinib.

Finally, Carla S Walti et al find evidence for immunogenicity of seasonal flu vaccines in CAR T cell therapy recipients, although a relatively weak humoral response suggests additional infection-prevention strategies are needed for this vulnerable population.

Thank you, JITC readers for your continued support of the journal, and if we were not able to connect in person at SITC 2021 then I hope we can look forward to the next meeting in 2022.
 
Best,

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

To view the entire April 2021 JITC Digest, please click here

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