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Teamwork by different T-cell types boosts tumour destruction by immunotherapy

Immunotherapy treatment harnesses CD8 T cells of the immune system to kill tumour cells. The finding that CD4 helper T cells contribute to the success of this treatment in mice might offer a way to improve clinical outcomes.
  1. Jonathan L. Linehan

    1. Jonathan L. Linehan is at Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA.

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  2. Lélia Delamarre

    1. Lélia Delamarre is at Genentech, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA.

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Immune cells called CD8 (or cytotoxic) T cells can target and kill cancer cells, and immunotherapies that boost this process are in clinical use. However, for reasons that are not fully clear, it is hard to predict whether a person will respond to this treatment. Writing in Nature, Alspach et al.1 report mouse studies revealing that another type of immune cell, called a CD4 cell (also known as a helper T cell), has a crucial role in aiding CD8 T cells to target tumours after immunotherapy.

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Nature 574, 639-640 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03106-1

References

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Competing Interests

J.L.L. and L.D. are employees of Genentech.

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