No abstract

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has revolutionized cancer treatment. However, resistance to ICB occurs frequently due to tumor-intrinsic alterations or extrinsic factors in the tumor microenvironment. This Viewpoint aims to give an update on recent developments in immunotherapy for solid tumors and highlights progress in translational research and clinical practice.

Metastasis is the main cause of deaths related to solid cancers. Active transcriptional programmes are known to regulate the metastatic cascade but the molecular determinants of metastatic colonization remain elusive. Using an inducible piggyBac (PB) transposon mutagenesis screen, we have shown that overexpression of the transcription factor nuclear factor IB (NFIB) alone is sufficient to enhance primary mammary tumour growth and lung metastatic colonization. Mechanistically and functionally, NFIB directly increases expression of the oxidoreductase ERO1A, which enhances HIF1α‐VEGFA‐mediated angiogenesis and colonization, the last and fatal step of the metastatic cascade. NFIB is thus clinically relevant: it is preferentially expressed in the poor‐prognostic group of basal‐like breast cancers, and high expression of the NFIB/ERO1A/VEGFA pathway correlates with reduced breast cancer patient survival.