A dendritic cell autophagy-neutrophil axis limits intratumoral STING immunotherapy.

Dendritic cell autophagy and neutrophil activity restrict intratumoral STING immunotherapy efficacy, with neutrophil depletion improving tumor control in mice.

• Why it matters: Understanding the mechanisms limiting STING-based immunotherapy is crucial to enhance its clinical success, as current approaches show limited efficacy despite promising preclinical results.
• What they did: The study used viruslike particles delivering cGAMP to activate STING in dendritic cells in mice, examining the roles of interferon signaling, autophagy, and neutrophils in tumor response.
• The result: Findings show that defective dendritic cell autophagy and neutrophil-driven immunosuppression, rather than interferon signaling, hinder therapy, and neutrophil depletion can improve tumor control.