The mechanisms of immune evasion during haematological malignancies are poorly understood. As lymphomas grow in lymphoid organs, it would be expected that if these lymphomas express neo-antigens they should be readily detected by the immune system. To test this assumption, we generated a new non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma model expressing the model tumour neo-antigen Ovalbumin (OVA), and analysed the endogenous antigen-specific CD8 + T-cell response that it elicited in recipient mice. The OVA+ lymphoma cells were eliminated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in mice that had been previously vaccinated against OVA. In contrast, the immune system of naïve mice ignored the malignant cells even though these continuously expressed and presented OVA on their MHC class I molecules. This state of ignorance could be overcome by therapeutic vaccination, which led to the expansion of endogenous anti-OVA-specific CD8 + T cells. However, the cytotoxic and interferon-c secretion capacity of these T cells were impaired. The tumour model that we describe thus reproduces several key aspects of human lymphoma; tumor ignorance can be broken by vaccination but the ensuing immune response remains ineffective. This model can be exploited to further understand the mechanisms of lymphoma immunoevasion and devise effective immunotherapy. In numerous human cancers, the presence of tumour-specific CD8 + cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) correlates with better prognosis. 1 These CTL are directed against neo-antigens that are generated during tumour cell transformation. 2 Although sometimes the presence of CTL can lead to spontaneous tumour clearance, 3 in most cases antitumour immunity is either suppressed or the malignant cells are ignored by the host immune system.Most studies investigating mechanisms of tumour immune evasion in pre-clinical animal models have primarily been undertaken using solid tumours inoculated in peripheral tissues. Reports addressing immunoescape mechanisms in the context of blood-derived malignancies, such as lymphoma and/or leukaemia, are rather scarce. This is important because the anatomic localization might dictate the immunoescape strategy exploited by the tumour. For instance, solid tumour cells and/or tumour antigens can be 'walled off' and thus ignored by the immune system. 4-7 Furthermore, tumour-specific CTL may be incapable of infiltrating solid tumours, thwarting their anti-tumour potential. 8 These evasion mechanisms are less likely to occur in the case of blood-derived malignancies because such tumours grow within the secondary lymphoid organs and hence should be readily accessible to T cells. Several studies have addressed the induction of tumour antigen-specific CD4 + T-cell responses against blood-derived tumour models. [9][10][11][12][13] Evidence indicates that tumour antigen-specific transgenic CD4 + T cells interact with antigen presenting cells that display tumour neo-antigens, however, this interaction results in tolerance. In contrast to anti-tumour CD4 + T cells, little is known about the capacity...