Impaired immunity in late stage cancer patients is not limited to anti-tumor responses, as demonstrated by poor vaccination protection and high susceptibility to infection 1 – 3 . This has been largely attributed to chemotherapy-induced impairment of innate immunity such as neutropenia 2 , whereas systemic effects of tumors on hematopoiesis and adoptive immunity remain incompletely understood. Here we observed anemia associated with severe deficiency of CD8 + T cell responses against pathogens in treatment-naïve mice bearing large tumors. Specifically, we identify CD45 + erythroid progenitor cells (CD71 + TER119 + , EPCs) as robust immunosuppressors. CD45 + EPCs, induced by tumor growth-associated extramedullary hematopoiesis, accumulate in the spleen to become a major population, outnumbering regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). The CD45 + EPC transcriptome closely resembles that of MDSCs, and, like MDSCs, reactive oxygen species production is a major mechanism underlying CD45 + EPC-mediated immunosuppression. Similarly, an immunosuppressive CD45 + EPC population was detected in cancer patients with anemia. These findings identify a major population of immunosuppressive cells that likely contributes to the impaired T cell responses commonly observed in advanced cancer patients.

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Our data suggest that immunopositivity of p14ARF together with a low expression of MDM2 contributes to accumulation of the wild-type p53, and that deregulation of the p53-MDM2-p14ARF pathway is important in the pathogenesis and outcome of a subset of NSCLC.

Complement aids in the construction of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Tumor cell-derived C3 has been previously reported, but whether and how it acts on antitumor immunity remains to be elucidated. Here, we describe a mechanism for tumor cell-derived C3 in suppressing antitumor immunity. Tumor cell-derived C3 was activated intracellularly, which results in generation of C3a. C3a modulated tumor-associated macrophages via C3a-C3aR-PI3Kg signaling, thereby repressing antitumor immunity. Deletion of C3 in tumor cells that had high C3 expression enhanced efficacy of anti-PD-L1 treatment. Collectively, our results suggest tumor cell-derived C3 may be a useful target for cancer immunotherapy and that targeting C3 in tumor cells may enhance antitumor immunity.

Despite progress in locoregional and systemic therapies, patient survival from lung cancer remains a challenge. Receptor tyrosine kinases are frequently implicated in lung cancer pathogenesis, and some tyrosine kinase inhibition strategies have been effective clinically. The EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinase has recently emerged as a potential target in several other cancers. We sought to systematically study the role of EphB4 in lung cancer. Here, we demonstrate that EphB4 is overexpressed 3-fold in lung tumors compared to paired normal tissues and frequently exhibits gene copy number increases in lung cancer. We also show that overexpression of EphB4 promotes cellular proliferation, colony formation, and motility, while EphB4 inhibition reduces cellular viability in vitro, halts the growth of established tumors in mouse xenograft models when used as a single-target strategy, and causes near-complete regression of established tumors when used in combination with paclitaxel. Taken together, these data suggest an important role for EphB4 as a potential novel therapeutic target in lung cancer. Clinical trials investigating the efficacy of anti-EphB4 therapies as well as combination therapy involving EphB4 inhibition may be warranted.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are important markers of metastatic cancer. The isolation and detection of CTCs from peripheral blood provides valuable information for cancer diagnosis and precision medicine. However, cost-efficient targeted separation of CTCs of different origins with clinically significant specificity and efficiency remains a major challenge. In this study, a facile approach was developed to fabricate a thin sheet of hyaluronic acid (HA)-functionalized PLGA nanofibrous membrane and integrate it into a microfluidic chamber. The HA was covalently conjugated onto polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified electrospun poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanofibers. Different techniques were employed to characterize the resulted nanofibers. The results show that the CD44+ carcinoma of various origins (HeLa, KB, A549, and MCF-7 cells) could be selectively captured by the PLGA-PEI-HA nanofibers in the microfluidic platform. Importantly, the PLGA-PEI-HA nanofibrous membrane was more efficient to capture HeLa cancer cells under flowing conditions than in static dishes, and at a really low density (20 cells per mL). Furthermore, with constant media perfusion, the captured HeLa cells could grow on the nanofibrous membrane in the microchip for days without compromised cell viability. This is the first trial of using HA-functionalized electrospun nanofibers in a lab-chip device for cancer cell capture and culture. Compared to conventional CTC capture methods, the integration of inexpensive functional electrospun nanofibers and microfluidic technologies may expand the frontiers of using advanced nanomaterials in portable diagnostic applications.

Highlights d Tumor organoid cultures from >1,000 patients reveal genomic/transcriptomic fidelity d Establishment of chemically defined minimal medias for each solid tumor type d Pan-cancer neural network predicts drug response from label-free light microscopy

Cancer treatment alters microRNA (miRNA) expression, revealing potential therapeutic targets (oncotarget). Here we treated pancreatic cancer (ASPC-1) cells with either recombinant human endostatin (rh-endostatin) or gemcitabine. Then high-throughput sequencing assay was performed to screen for altered miRNAs. Both treatments decreased levels of MiR-19a. We found that miR-19a stimulated cell proliferation, migration, invasion in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. High levels of miR-19a correlated with poor prognosis in patients. Ras homolog family member B (RHOB) was identified as a direct target of miR-19a. Furthermore, RHOB was down-regulated in human pancreatic cancer samples. Restoration of RHOB induced apoptosis, inhibited proliferation and migration of ASPC-1 cells. SP-1 was identified as an upstream transcription factor of miR-19a gene, promoting miR-19a transcription. Rh-endostatin decreased miR-19a expression by down-regulating SP-1. These findings suggest that miR-19a is a potential therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer.