Unleashing the power of anti-tumor CD4+ T cells: novel insights into the curative mechanisms of chemoimmunotherapy for cancer

Background CD4 T cells are critical mediators of anti-tumor immunity and orchestrate a broad range of immune responses against cancer. Previous studies from our lab and others have demonstrated that, adoptive transfer of tumor specific CD4 T cells to lymphopenic hosts led to eradication of established tumors in mice models. Accumulating evidence from preclinical and clinical studies also suggest that CD4 T cells in combination with chemotherapy can control tumor progression and recurrence. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which tumor reactive CD4 T cells eliminate a wide variety of tumors are not completely understood.