LETTER FROM THE EDITOR - FEBRUARY

Hello JITC Readers,

Welcome to the latest edition of the JITC Digest. This month I’m excited to share our special feature, spotlighting JITC’s newest review series, “Liquid Biopsies Coming of Age: Biology, Emerging Technologies, and Clinical Translation.” Our first two reviews and their companion viewpoint letters have already published, and be sure to check the collections page throughout 2023 for additional articles on this exciting and emerging frontier.

Our article highlights this month feature other exciting frontiers for the immunotherapy field including epigenetic modulation and microbial influences on anti-tumor immunity.

Lauren M Perry and colleagues describe the presence of an intratumoral microbiome and virome in soft tissue sarcoma as well as associations between intratumoral viruses, natural killer cell infiltration, and oncologic outcomes.

Rationale for combination of epigenetic modulation with macrophage-targeting therapies for the treatment of MYC-driven medulloblastoma is provided by Viktoria Marquardt and colleagues.

Two pathways for T cell-induced secretion of the TIM-3 and VISTA ligand galectin-9 from solid tumors are revealed by Stephanie Schlichtner et al.

And finally, Jelmer H van Puffelen and colleagues show that intravesical Bacillus Calmette–Guérin causes epigenetic, transcriptomic, and functional changes in myeloid cells consistent with trained immunity, which may protect patients undergoing treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer from respiratory infections.

Best,

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

 

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR - JANUARY

Hello JITC Readers,

Happy New Year and welcome to the first JITC Digest of 2023. We’re looking forward to the year ahead, and we’re excited for everything 2023 has in store for the journal. Be sure to check our special feature each month for the latest news. This month we’re extending a sincere and heartfelt thank you to the numerous volunteer reviewers who gave their time and expertise last year. 

Our article highlight this month is evenly split between papers related to engineered T cell products for hematologic malignancies and checkpoint blockade for solid tumors. The research spans from preclinical characterization to long-term follow-up data from a pivotal phase III trial. 

Katharina Baur and colleagues offer an intriguing case report on dasatinib for the management of CAR T cell therapy-associated toxicities. Anaïs Jiménez-Reinoso et al describe preclinical control of T cell leukemia with T cells engineered to secrete a bispecific antibody. 

5-year follow-up data from Brian I Rini et al continue to demonstrate clinical benefit with ipilimumab in combination with nivolumab for the treatment of sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma. Min Zheng offers analysis supporting a significant association between pre-treatment serum albumin levels and clinical benefit with checkpoint blockade across a variety of solid tumors. 

With best wishes for 2023,

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