Dying T lymphocytes call for the death of tumor cells

Immunotherapy that specifically targets tumor cells is the preferred approach to induce tumor regression. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in devising various methods to direct the immune system to respond to tumor cells. The major hurdle for successful immunotherapy is to overcome immune tolerance in the tumor microenvironment. Recent clinical trials with dendritic cell-based vaccination 1, 2] and CTLA4 blocking antibodies 3] have shown great promise, though complete cancer regression is not always achieved 4]. Currently, alternative strategies potentially leading to cancer eradication or regression in animal or clinical models are being enthusiastically pursued. In this issue of Cell Research, Wang et al. report a novel way to induce tumor immunity by the use of irradiated autologous T cells 5].