Immune-mediated tumor evolution: Nanog links the emergence of a stem like cancer cell state and immune evasion

Abstract

Tumor cells undergo molecular evolution under immune pressure. Using a murine metastatic lung cancer model, we recently reported that evolutionary pressure enforced through vaccination incites gain of Nanog, a master transcription factor that mediates both emergence of a stem-like cancer cell state and immune evasion. Thus, therapeutic strategies aiming to blunt NANOG's expression in patient tumors may improve the clinical management of cancer.