Immune check-point blockade (ICB) has shown clinical benefit in mismatch repair-deficient/microsatellite instability high metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but not in mismatch repair-proficient/microsatellite stable patients. Cancer vaccines with autologous dendritic cells (ADC) could be a complementary therapeutic approach to ICB as this combination has the potential to achieve synergistic effects.

SOX1 autoantibodies are considered markers of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) and are usually determined by commercial line blot in many clinical services. Recent studies suggested that SOX1 autoantibodies also occur in patients with neuropathies unrelated to SCLC, questioning the value of SOX1 autoantibodies as paraneoplastic biomarkers. Here, we compared the specificity and sensitivity of a commercial line blot (Euroimmun, Lübeck, Germany) with those of an in house cell-based assay (CBA) with HEK293 cells transfected with SOX1. Overall, 210 patients were included in the study, 139 patients with polyneuropathies without SCLC, and 71 with disorders associated with SOX1 autoantibodies detected with the in-house CBA. Forty one of these 71 cases had been referred to our laboratory for onconeuronal antibody assessment and 30/71 were patients with known PNS and SCLC. None of the patients with polyneuropathies had SOX1 autoantibodies by either line blot or CBA (specificity of the immunoblot: 100%; 95%C.I.: 97.8-100). Among the 71 patients with CBA SOX1 autoantibodies, only 53 were positive by line blot (sensitivity: 74.6%; 95%C.I.: 62.9-84.2). Lung cancer was detected in 37/41 (90%; 34 with SCLC) patients referred for onconeuronal antibody assessment and 34 of them also had a PNS. Our study confirms the association of SOX1 autoantibodies with SCLC and PNS. The line blot test misses 25% of the cases; therefore, to minimize the frequency of false negative results we recommend the use of a confirmatory test, such as CBA, in patients suspected to have a SCLC-related PNS.

Identification of new markers associated with long-term efficacy in patients treated with CAR T cells is a current medical need, particularly in diseases such as multiple myeloma. In this study, we address the impact of CAR density on the functionality of BCMA CAR T cells. Functional and transcriptional studies demonstrate that CAR T cells with high expression of the CAR construct show an increased tonic signaling with up-regulation of exhaustion markers and increased in vitro cytotoxicity but a decrease in in vivo BM infiltration. Characterization of gene regulatory networks using scRNA-seq identified regulons associated to activation and exhaustion up-regulated in CARHigh T cells, providing mechanistic insights behind differential functionality of these cells. Last, we demonstrate that patients treated with CAR T cell products enriched in CARHigh T cells show a significantly worse clinical response in several hematological malignancies. In summary, our work demonstrates that CAR density plays an important role in CAR T activity with notable impact on clinical response.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) is an autosomal-dominant autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in the TNFRSF1A gene. R92Q, a low-penetrance variant, is usually associated with a milder TRAPS phenotype than structural or pathogenic mutations. No studies differentiating R92Q-related disease in patients with pediatric and adult onset have been performed to date.