Patients who have anti-SOX2 T cells (solid line) are less likely to develop multiple myeloma than those lacking these T cells (dashed line).

The immune system can only prevent cancer if it recognizes and destroys precancerous cells. Antigenic targets of such an early immune response, however, have been elusive. Spisek et al. (page 831) now find that an embryonic stem cell marker is a bull's eye for immune cells in patients who have precancerous lesions but never develop multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable cancer that occurs throughout the bone marrow. It is caused by the uncontrolled proliferation of antibody-producing B cells, which replace normal immune cells as well as red blood cells and platelets. In some patients, this malignant cancer is preceded by a benign condition known as multiple gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). During this stage, the abnormal B cells do...

The Rockefeller University Press
2007
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
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