B cells and cancer: To B or not to B?

Abstract

Tertiary lymphoid structures, adjacent to tumor nests, are sites where antitumor adaptive T and B cell immune responses are generated. Fridman et al. highlight the impact of B cells and the antibodies they produce in tumor immunity and a patient’s response to immunotherapy.

Abstract

Whereas T cells have been considered the major immune cells of the tumor microenvironment able to induce tumor regression and control cancer clinical outcome, a burst of recent publications pointed to the fact that B cells may also play a prominent role. Activated in germinal centers of tertiary lymphoid structures, B cells can directly present tumor-associated antigens to T cells or produce antibodies that increase antigen presentation to T cells or kill tumor cells, resulting in a beneficial clinical impact. Immune complexes can also increase inflammation, angiogenesis, and immunosuppression via macrophage and complement activation, resulting in deleterious impact.