Introduction: Cancer Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a promising and effective modality to treat different malignancies. Antigenic profiling of cancer tissues and determination of any pre-existing immune responses to cancer antigens may help predict responses to immune intervention in cancer. NY-ESO-1, a cancer testis antigen is the most immunogenic antigen to date. The promise of NY-ESO-1 as a candidate for specific immune recognition of cancer comes from its restricted expression in normal adult tissue but frequent occurrence in multiple tumors including melanoma and carcinomas of lung, esophageal, liver, gastric, prostrate, ovarian, and bladder. Main body: This review summarizes current knowledge of NY-ESO-1 as efficient biomarker and target of immunotherapy. It also addresses limitations and challenges preventing a robust immune response to NY-ESO-1 expressing cancers, and describes pre-clinical and clinical observations relevant to NY-ESO-1 immunity, holding potential therapeutic relevance for cancer treatment. Conclusion: NY-ESO-1 induces strong immune responses in cancer patients but has limited objective clinical responses to NY-ESO-1 expressing tumors due to effect of competitive negative signaling from immune-checkpoints and immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment. We propose that combination therapy to increase the efficacy of NY-ESO-1 specific immunotherapeutic interventions should be explored to unleash the immune response against NY-ESO-1 expressing tumors.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors provide considerable therapeutic benefit in a range of solid cancers as well as in a subgroup of hematological malignancies. Response rates are however suboptimal, and despite considerable efforts, predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors ahead of their administration in a given patient remains elusive. The study of the dynamics of the immune system and of the tumor under immune checkpoint blockade brought insight into the mechanisms of action of these therapeutic agents. Equally relevant are the mechanisms of adaptive resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors that have been uncovered through this approach. In this review, we discuss the dynamics of the immune system and of the tumor under immune checkpoint blockade emanating from recent studies on animal models and humans. We will focus on mechanisms of action and of resistance conveying information predictive of therapeutic response.

Hodgkin lymphoma is a haematological malignancy predominantly affecting young adults. Hodgkin lymphoma is a highly curable disease by current treatment standards. Latest treatment guidelines for Hodgkin lymphoma however imply access to diagnostic and treatment modalities that may not be available in settings with restricted healthcare resources. Considerable discrepancies in Hodgkin lymphoma patient survival exist, with poorer outcomes reported in resources-constrained settings. Resources-stratified guidelines for diagnosis, staging and treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma were derived in an effort to optimize patient outcome provided a given setting of available resources. These guidelines were derived based on the framework of the Breast Health Global Initiative stratifying resource levels in basic, core, advanced and maximal categories.