{
  "abstract": "Surgical removal of tumor-draining lymph nodes (tdLNs) is commonly performed in cancer patients. Here, we investigated whether immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) responses persist after resection of tdLNs, important sites for the initiation and maintenance of anti-cancer immunity. Melanoma patients remained responsive to programmed death 1 (PD-1) blockade after regional LN dissection. Similarly, ICB efficacy persisted after tdLN resection in orthotopic murine melanoma and mammary carcinoma models. Following tdLN removal, interstitial fluid containing soluble antigen was diverted through interstitial spaces across lymphosome boundaries to distant LNs, wherein cancer-derived antigen was acquired and presented to T cells by LN-resident type I conventional dendritic cells. These responses persisted after primary tumor resection and supported ICB-induced systemic immunity. Locoregional delivery of ICB to compensatory LNs enhanced anti-cancer responses after tdLN resection. Consistently, ICB responses in head and neck cancer patients were associated with reactive LNs at distant sites. Thus, antigen rerouting enables distant LNs to compensate for resected tdLNs and sustain anti-cancer immunity, including responses enhanced by immunotherapy.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Edwin Steele Laboratories, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA",
    "Edwin Steele Laboratories, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Koch Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, USA",
    "Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA",
    "Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA",
    "Koch Institute for Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA",
    "Department of Molecular Metabolism, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA",
    "Edwin Steele Laboratories, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: tpadera@mgh.harvard.edu"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 20,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lutz Menzel",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3816-6255"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hengbo Zhou",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9948-7909"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "James W. Baish",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4442-4668"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Meghan J. O’Melia",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2223-1849"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Laurel B. Darragh",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6445-7988"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Derek N Effiom",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7534-9029"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Emma Specht",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6838-3912"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Juliane Czapla"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Pin‐Ji Lei",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2539-5179"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Johanna J. Rajotte",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-8764-2350"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lingshan Liu",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-3904-478X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohammad R. Nikmaneshi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9016-1830"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohammad Sayed Razavi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8991-6087"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Matthew G. Vander Heiden",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6702-4192"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Jessalyn M. Ubellacker",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7855-9125"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lance L. Munn",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0698-7232"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Sana D. Karam",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1676-5967"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Genevieve Marie Boland",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7522-6173"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Sonia Cohen",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0172-5620"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Timothy P. Padera",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3453-9384"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/968ez22qvamnp.bib",
  "cited_by": 13,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.immuni.2026.09.009",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "968ez22qvamnp",
  "issns": [
    "1074-7613",
    "1097-4180"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2026.09.009",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2730|Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215054771",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC10541098",
  "pmid": "37781599",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Cell Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/968ez22qvamnp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:26:56Z",
      "native_id": "W7215054771",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2026.09.009"
    }
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2730|Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Distant lymph nodes compensate for resected tumor-draining lymph nodes during cancer immunotherapy",
  "title_text": "Distant lymph nodes compensate for resected tumor-draining lymph nodes during cancer immunotherapy",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T13:21:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/968ez22qvamnp",
  "venue": "Immunity",
  "versions": []
}