IL-27: overclocking cytotoxic T lymphocytes to boost cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

In a recent study published in Nature, Breart et al.¹ untangled the controversy surrounding interleukin (IL)-27’s role in regulating T cell differentiation and immune responses in cancer. Their findings reveal that IL-27 enhances the persistence and effector functions of tumor-infiltrating CD8⁺ T lymphocytes (TILs), preventing exhaustion, sustaining T cell-dependent tumor control and immunotherapy efficacy without significant systemic side effects.