Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified the immune cell that acts as the architect and coordinator of powerful immune hubs that form inside tumors and plays a key role in antitumor immunity. This discovery could lead to new strategies for making cancer immunotherapies more effective.

The findings, published in Science, reveal that a specialized immune cell called dendritic cell type 1 is essential for building and maintaining structures known as tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs). These organized clusters of immune cells serve as local command centers, or immune “outposts,” where the body coordinates attacks against cancer directly within tumors.

Previous research has shown that patients whose tumors contain TLSs often live longer and respond better to immunotherapy. Until now, however, scientists did not know what controlled the formation and maintenance of these protective immune hubs.