Cross-talk between tumors can affect responses to therapy

Abstract

Advanced stages of cancer often involve multiple tumors in different locations in the body. These tumors are associated with a microenvironment that can influence tumor responses to immunotherapy. Whether tumors and their disparate microenvironment can interact together at distance in a multiple tumor setting, through a form of cross-talk, and affect their responses to immunotherapy has never been described. Our study investigated the cross-talk between two tumors with disparate microenvironments in a mouse model. We demonstrated that immunosuppressive visceral tumors could influence distant subcutaneous (SC) tumors to render them resistant to immunotherapy. We observed distinct modification..