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Immune Privilege of Stem Cells and Cancer Immunotherapy Workshop

Banner for the Immune Privilege of Stem Cells and Cancer Immunotherapy Workshop (May 1, 2023) with images of stem cell clonal tracking and dendritic cells interacting with T cells.

Cancer immunotherapies, such as checkpoint blockade and adoptive cell transfer, have achieved unprecedented clinical responses in some patients, however there is still a long way to go to extend the success from a small fraction to all cancer patients. 

Immune evasion and immune suppression are central issues in innate and acquired resistance to cancer immunotherapies. It is known that tissue stem cells have certain “immune privileges,” which are important to avoiding immune destruction and maintaining tissue homeostasis. Additional studies have found that mechanisms of stem cell immune privilege can be hijacked by tumor cells to evade immune destruction. However, whether and how the mechanisms of stem cell immune privilege are connected to the immune suppressive tumor microenvironment and resistance to immunotherapy is currently not well understood. 

Thus, the goal of this NCI workshop was to assess the mechanisms of stem cell immune privilege, including tissue stem cells and cancer stem cells, and how these mechanisms might be related to the immune evasion and immune suppressive microenvironments in tumors. It also addressed gaps in our current knowledge and challenges/opportunities for improving cancer immunotherapy.  

Documents from the Workshop

Executive Summary

An executive summary of the Immune Privilege of Stem Cells and Cancer Immunotherapy Workshop, including workshop background, goals, participants, and key topics discussed during the meeting, can be found in this document. 

DCB Contact for the Workshop

For additional information about the workshop, please contact Dr. Yin Liu (liuy@exchange.nih.gov).

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