title: Tumor Heterogeneity and Tumor Immunity: A Chicken-and-Egg Problem.
abstract: The overall mutational burden of a tumor is considered to be a predictive marker for the success of checkpoint blockade therapy. A recent study by McGranahan et al. reframes this notion by showing that clonal expression of neoantigens by tumor cells, rather than overall mutational burden, determines the response to checkpoint blockade therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address: sspranger@bsd.uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Stefani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spranger
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000940:Antigenic Variation; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological / Q000378:metabolism; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D063646:Carcinogenesis; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D054316:Biomarkers, Pharmacological; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor