T cell differentiation, lineage commitment and plasticity in cancer: a multi-dimensional approach from the molecular mechanism to the patients

Cancer immunotherapy (including by checkpoint inhibitors) aims to “re-program” cells of the immune system, and most importantly CD8+ T lymphocytes, but also CD4+ T helper and regulatory cells, to reject tumors. Understanding this re-programing is both a major fundamental and translational research goal, relevant to the fundamental mechanisms of fate decision / lineage commitment, and to immunotherapy and vaccination in general. Differentiation is driven by gene expression programs that are themselves controlled epigenetically. Overall design: RNA-seq from FFPE tissue blocks from resected from NSCLC tumors