This article considers the practical and symbolic value of English in South Korea. We argue that English works as an index of South Korea's and South Koreans' cosmopolitan striving in the global order. We assert, however, that the values of English diverge across the class spectrum. We thus examine the life of English and cosmopolitanism through the narratives of three mothers with distinct class positions on their management of their children's English after-school education. We consider the mothers' interest in and commitment to their children's— and in some cases their own—English education as an inter-generational gendered project. We examine the ways in which mothers' management of this after-school English education speaks to their own class mobility (or maintenance) and cosmopolitan strivings. The article asserts that English works simultaneously as both a local and global sign, and that nationalism and cosmopolitanism are not contradictory.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has been treated for decades with cisplatin chemotherapy, and anti–PD-1 immunotherapy has recently been approved for the treatment of this disease. However, preclinical studies of how antitumor immunity in HNSCC is affected by cisplatin alone or in combination with immunotherapies are lacking. Here, we show that sublethal doses of cisplatin may enhance antigen presentation and T-cell killing in vitro, though cisplatin also upregulates tumor cell expression of PD-L1 and may impair T-cell function at higher doses. In a syngeneic mouse model of HNSCC, concurrent use of cisplatin and anti–PD-L1/PD-1 delayed tumor growth and enhanced survival without significantly reducing the number or function of tumor-infiltrating immune cells or increasing cisplatin-induced toxicities. These results suggest that moderate doses of cisplatin may enhance antitumor immunity by mechanisms other than direct tumor cell killing, which may be further enhanced by anti–PD-L1/PD-1 therapy.

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Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) frequently harbor genomic mutations in cell death pathways. Nearly 30% of HNSCCs overexpress Fas-Associated Death Domain (FADD), with or without BIRC2/3 genes encoding cellular Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins 1/2 (cIAP1/2), critical components of the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Receptor signaling pathways. ASTX660 is a novel non-peptidomimetic antagonist of cIAP1/2 and XIAP under evaluation in a clinical trial for advanced solid tumors and lymphomas. Herein, we show that ASTX660, at nanomolar concentrations, sensitized Murine Oral Cancer (MOC1) cells to TNFα. Using syngeneic mouse models, ASTX660 showed additive anti-tumor activity with radiation therapy (XRT), cisplatin chemotherapy, and PD-1 blockade to significantly delay or eradicate MOC1 tumors. These combinations significantly increased CD8 + T cells and dendritic cells, as well as T cell activity. ASTX660 stimulated cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing of MOC1 cells expressing ovalbumin. Early stages of CTL killing were predominantly mediated by perforin/granzyme B, whereas later stages were mediated by death ligands TNFα, TRAIL, and FasL. Correspondingly, depletion of CD8 + T cells and NK cells in vivo revealed both types of immune cells to be important components of the complete anti-tumor response enhanced by ASTX660+XRT. These findings serve to inform future studies of IAP inhibitors and support the potential for future clinical trials investigating ASTX660 with XRT and immunotherapies like PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in HNSCC.

This paper explores the ways in which contemporary college students in South Korea inhabit new discourses of human development in the context of South Korea's neo-liberal turn and globalization. By using ethnographic methods, we examine the lives of college students across three campuses, a top-tier private school and two mid-tier schools. The college students who we introduce all aspire to and accept the burden of managing their personal formation for a changing world. We note that the individuated way in which they narrate and take responsibility for their circumstances and predicaments is quite new and resonant with discussions of neo-liberal subjectivity. We show, however, how the burden of self-development is borne variously, according to differences in the 'brand capital' of the students' university, gender, and family background. We argue that neo-liberal subjectivity, highlighting personal ability, style, and responsibility, works to obscure escalating structural inequality in South Korea.