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Many cancers elicit T-cell attacks. But these cancer cells also produce “checkpoint” molecules on their surface that attach to receptors on the attacking T cells. This “handshake” between the cancer cells and the T cell quiets the T cells and allows the cancer to grow. In Nobel prize–winning research, researchers showed that immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can improve the T cell attack dramatically and can improve the patient’s outcome. But ICIs don’t work in some patients.
Previous studies in animals showed that SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) mRNA vaccines prime the attacking CD8+ T cells and augment the effect of ICI drugs. Might the same be true in humans? In an observational study of patients who received ICI therapy, investigators com…