Your neighbors matter: Adjacent cancer cells dampen TLS function.

Adjacent cancer cells produce GABA that suppresses TLS function, contributing to immunotherapy resistance in tumors with tertiary lymphoid structures.

• Why it matters: Understanding why some tumors with TLSs fail to respond to immunotherapy is critical for improving treatment outcomes and overcoming resistance mechanisms.
• What they did: Hernández-Verdin et al. identified cancer-derived GABA as an immunosuppressant factor through experimental analysis, revealing its role in TLS dysfunction and therapy resistance.
• The result: Targeting GABA enhances TLS activity and tumor response to immunotherapy, offering a promising strategy to improve therapeutic efficacy in resistant cancers.