The annual Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC) best paper awards celebrate excellence in scientific research and are awarded to researchers demonstrating leadership in the field as well as innovation and high-quality execution and discussion in their manuscripts.
Papers published in the last 12 months are eligible for nomination for these awards. Papers are nominated by the editorial board based on the following criteria:
- Papers nominated in the JITC Best Basic Tumor Immunology Paper Award category presented research that covers tumor antigens, innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune mechanisms, immune regulation, immune response, cancer and inflammation, preclinical models, chemotherapy and radiotherapy interactions/combinations of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and other combination treatments with the antitumor immune response.
- Papers nominated in the JITC Best Clinical/Translational Paper Award category presented clinical research that has a clear potential to optimize patient care, with particular emphasis on high-quality randomized control trials, novel combination therapies, novel diagnostic or prognostic insights, and new insights into mechanisms of action.
- Papers nominated in the JITC Best Immune Cell Therapies/Immune Cell Engineering Paper Award category presented research that discusses approaches, new targets, novel functionalities, clinical trial results, correlative studies in patients who have received cell-based therapies, novel engineering strategies (molecular switches, conditional expression, logic gating), gene-edited cells to knock out or knock in novel functions, and/or synthetic gene circuit.
- Papers nominated in JITC Best Immunotherapy Biomarkers Paper Award category presented research that presents predictive/prognostic biomarker studies, gene expression studies in cancer immunotherapy, serological immune biomarkers, multiparameter flow cytometry-defined immune biomarkers, high content immunohistological studies, and/or clinical trial analyses and identification of novel immune biomarkers.
- Papers nominated in the JITC Best Oncolytic and Local Immunotherapy Paper Award category presented research that focuses on the role of therapeutic agents designed for targeting tumor cells and/or the tumor microenvironment. This includes oncolytic viruses, microbial agents, innate immune agonists, direct and systemically delivered proteins and DNA/RNA products that act within established tumors. Articles on translational and clinical investigation involving new oncolytic immunotherapy agents or those that include an oncolytic approach as part of combination therapeutic regimens are also represented.