Zachary A. Cooper

TL;DR: Examination of the oral and gut microbiome of melanoma patients undergoing anti-programmed cell death 1 protein (PD-1) immunotherapy suggested enhanced systemic and antitumor immunity in responding patients with a favorable gut microbiome as well as in germ-free mice receiving fecal transplants from responding patients.

TL;DR: It is found that stroma-mediated resistance is common, particularly to targeted agents, and the systematic dissection of interactions between tumours and their micro-environment can uncover important mechanisms underlying drug resistance.

TL;DR: The study of immune cell transcriptomes from tumors demonstrates a strategy for identifying predictors, mechanisms, and targets for enhancing checkpoint immunotherapy by targeting novel combinations of factors in exhausted cells.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that loss of PTEN in tumor cells in preclinical models of melanoma inhibits T cell-mediated tumor killing and decreases T-cell trafficking into tumors, and support the rationale to explore combinations of immunotherapies and PI3K-AKT pathway inhibitors.

TL;DR: By studying colon cancer models, it is found that bacteria can metabolize the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine into its inactive form, 2′,2′-difluorodeoxyuridine, seen primarily in Gammaproteobacteria.