JITC Digest September 2026 - JITC Award Winners Announced

By JITC Publications posted 29 days ago

  

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JITC Digest – September 2026

In This Issue: Letter from the Editor | JITC Editor Picks | Popular Articles

Hello JITC Readers,

Many of us in the Northern Hemisphere have settled back into the new academic year, and with the molasses of summer behind us, onwards we head into the tsunami of tSeptember. As the calendar turns over to fall, some exciting changes are in the air here at JITC. These include promoting the use of visual abstracts to orient readers, promoting new series and reviews at the ‘cutting edge’ of Immuno-Oncology, and rewarding those who help promote our mission to accurately reflect our field.
Now in our 14th year of publishing, JITC has achieved tremendous growth in submissions, readership, and stature in the field. Such progress is not possible without the proverbial “it takes a village” effort from numerous constituents, among them authors, editors, and reviewers. While the journal continues to extend its reach and impact, I would like to take this opportunity to announce an expanded assemblage of JITC awards that reflect our growth and celebrate more of those who have contributed to sustaining excellence, synonymous with JITC.

JITC Editors’ Choice Awards

The JITC Editors’ Choice Awards honor research of exceptional significance and impact that advances the field of cancer immunotherapy and has the potential to meaningfully shape scientific understanding and future research. The recipients are selected by myself as Editor-in-Chief and JITC’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Sjoerd van der Burg from articles published in JITC during the previous calendar year.

 

JITC Outstanding Paper Awards

The five JITC Outstanding Paper Awards, one for each original research section in the journal, recognize exceptional research that advances the field of cancer immunotherapy through scientific excellence, innovation, rigor, and meaningful contributions to the field. Recipients are selected by the JITC Editorial Board from original research papers published during the previous calendar year.

 

JITC Excellence in Peer Review Awards

The JITC Excellence in Peer Review Awards recognize reviewers whose expertise, thoughtful assessments, and dedication make an exceptional contribution to the peer-review process and help uphold the quality, rigor, and integrity of JITC publications. In many ways the lifeblood of a journal, quality reviewers are essential to maintaining the high standards of publications, and these recipients are selected based on their contributions to the JITC peer-review process.

 

In addition to these JITC Awards, we are delighted that SITC has named Claudia Palena, PhD, as the recipient of this year’s Pedro J. Romero Service to JITC Award. She has been a member of JITC’s Editorial Board for more than seven years, starting as an Associate Editor and now serving as co-Section Editor for the Basic and Translational Cancer Immunology section. We send a heartfelt thank you to Claudia for her dedication and leadership at JITC.

 

Please see the special feature below for additional details and the full list of awardees. Stay tuned for more information on all JITC-related activities at SITC 2026 in the October Digest, but in the meantime, please join me in congratulating this exceptional slate of JITC award recipients!
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Michael T. Lotze, MD, FACS, FAIO
Editor-in-Chief
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
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2026 JITC Awards

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JITC Editors' Choice Awards Recipients

Recipient One

Recipient Two

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JITC Outstanding Paper Awards Recipients

Outstanding Basic and Translational Cancer Immunology Paper 

Outstanding Clinical Cancer Immunotherapy Paper 

Outstanding Immune Cell Therapies and Immune Cell Engineering Paper 

Outstanding Immunotherapy Biomarkers Paper

Outstanding Oncolytic and Local Immunotherapy Paper 

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JITC Excellence in Peer Review Awards Recipients

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Haiou Liu, PhD
Fudan University (China)
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Il Minn, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (USA)

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Pierosandro Tagliaferri, MD
Università magna graecia di Catanzaro (Italy)

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Fernando Torres Andón, PhD
Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (Spain)
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Haitang Yang, MD, PhD
Shanghai Chest Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (China)
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2026 Pedro J. Romero Service to JITC Award

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Claudia Palena, PhD
Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute

Popular Articles


The selections below represent some of the most popular content published in JITC over the past two years. Explore additional thematic content in JITC's Collections or access the rest of JITC's archives for a look at all the journal has to offer.

Comparative analysis of immune infiltrates in head and neck cancers across anatomical sites (11 January 2024) 

Novel bispecific antibody-drug conjugate targeting PD-L1 and B7-H3 enhances antitumor efficacy and promotes immune-mediated antitumor responses (2 October 2024) 

Eganelisib combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and chemotherapy in frontline metastatic triple-negative breast cancer triggers macrophage (30 August 2024) 

Harnessing lipid metabolism modulation for improved immunotherapy outcomes in lung adenocarcinoma (8 July 2024) 

Systemically administered low-affinity HER2 CAR T cells mediate antitumor efficacy without toxicity (7 February 2024) 

EBV promotes TCR-T-cell therapy resistance by inducing CD163+M2 macrophage polarization and MMP9 secretion (17 June 2024) 

Inflamed immune phenotype predicts favorable clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy across multiple cancer types (14 February 2014) 

Interactions between LAMP3+ dendritic cells and T-cell subpopulations promote immune evasion in papillary thyroid carcinoma (30 May 2024) 

TG6050, an oncolytic vaccinia virus encoding interleukin-12 and anti-CTLA-4 antibody, favors tumor regression via profound immune remodeling of the tumor (25 July 2024) 

Preliminary efficacy and safety of YSCH-01 in patients with advanced solid tumors: an investigator-initiated trial (7 May 2024) 

Severe acute myositis and myocarditis on initiation of 6-weekly pembrolizumab post-COVID-19 mRNA vaccination (24 April 2024) 

Targeted inhibition of the IL5 axis for immune checkpoint inhibitors eosinophilic-induced adverse events (12 October 2024) 

Impact of Helicobacter pylori on immunotherapy in gastric cancer (22 October 2024) 

CARs are sharpening their weapons (31 January 2024) 

Systematic review of immune checkpoint inhibitor-related gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, and pancreatic adverse events (14 November 2024) 

Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) recommendations on intratumoral immunotherapy clinical trials (IICT): from premalignant to metastatic disease (18 April 2024) 

Unlocking the therapeutic potential of the NKG2A-HLA-E immune checkpoint pathway in T cells and NK cells for cancer immunotherapy (31 October 2024) 

Cytokine-armed oncolytic herpes simplex viruses: a game-changer in cancer immunotherapy? (31 May 2024)

APC Discounts

As a way to thank the SITC members who work tirelessly to advance the science and improve the lives of cancer patients, SITC members who are first, last, or corresponding authors on JITC articles at the time of acceptance will receive discounted Article Processing Charges (APCs). This discount is applied post-acceptance, at which point a discount code is shared with the corresponding author. Learn more.
JITC also offers full waivers for the full APC (100% discount of the APC) where all authors are based in low-income countries (see policy). Requests for waivers must be made prior to submission. For additional information regarding these discounts, as well as institutional arrangements and editor/reviewer discounts, view the journal's APC policy. Additional questions may be directed to JITCEditor@sitcancer.org.
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