Accurate biomarkers of immune checkpoint blocker (ICB) response remain a need in metastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC); therefore, Goubet and colleagues sought to determine biomarkers to guide use of neoadjuvant ICBs in localized MIBC. Follicular helper CD4+ T cells (TFH) and IgG against urothelium-invasive Escherichia coli were found to direct clinical response such as progression-free survival after pembrolizumab treatment. CXCL13 produced by tumor-localized blood central memory TFH cells was found in the plasma of patients who responded, and IgG3+ CD38+ TFH cells present in bladder tissues were correlated with clinical benefit, suggesting a potential link between tumor infection and the success of ICBs.

See article, p. 2280.

Distant metastases arise in about half of patients after surgical removal of localized clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tumors. There remains a need to accurately identify which patients are likely to relapse and to develop...

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