Immunogenic cell stress and injury versus immunogenic cell death: implications for improving cancer treatment with immune checkpoint blockade

Inducing immunogenic tumor cell death to stimulate the response to immune checkpoint blockade has not yet been effectively translated into clinical practice. We recently discovered that stressed/injured but still viable tumor cells are critical for T-cell priming and substantially improve responses to systemic anti-PD1/CTLA4. Therapeutic tumor cell injury, rather than complete killing, in the tumor microenvironment may enhance efficacy of immunotherapy in various cancers.