Immune cell triads reprogram exhausted CD8+ T cells for effective tumor elimination.

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Espinosa-Carrasco et al. show that the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies depends upon the formation of intratumoral immune triads between antigen-presenting cells and antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. This interaction reprograms tumor-specific CD8+ T cells to exert potent effector functions and eradicate established solid tumors.