# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Immunotherapy and Immune Responses Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/immunotherapy-and-immune-responses/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Immunotherapy and Immune Responses research in the Class of 2026?

In the Class of 2026, the tumor microenvironment and combination immunotherapy continue to dominate research focus. We also observed significant growth in spatial omics and CD19 CAR T-cell therapy, while traditional topics like broad antigen presentation and T cell exhaustion saw notable declines.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Immunotherapy and Immune Responses |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 8,915 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Tumor microenvironment, immune checkpoint blockade, combination immunotherapy |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 108–369 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved July 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Individualised neoantigen therapy mRNA-4157 (V940) plus pembrolizumab versus pembrolizumab monotherapy in resected melanoma (KEYNOTE-942): a randomised, phase 2b study | Jeffrey S Weber, Matteo S Carlino, Adnan Khattak, Tarek Meniawy, George Ansstas, Matthew H Taylor, Kevin B Kim, Meredith McKean, Georgina V Long, Ryan J Sullivan, Mark Faries, Thuy T Tran, C Lance Cowey, Andrew Pecora, Montaser Shaheen, Jennifer Segar, Theresa Medina, Victoria Atkinson, Geoffrey T Gibney, Jason J Luke, Sajeve Thomas, Elizabeth I Buchbinder, Jane A Healy, Mo Huang, Manju Morrissey, Igor Feldman, Vasudha Sehgal, Celine Robert-Tissot, Peijie Hou, Lili Zhu, Michelle Brown, Praveen Aanur, Robert S Meehan, Tal Zaks | Jeffrey S. Weber | NYU Langone Health, United States | The Lancet | 369 | 10.1016/s0140-6736(23)02268-7 |
| 2 | Neoadjuvant Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Resectable Stage III Melanoma | Christian U Blank, Minke W Lucas, Richard A Scolyer, Bart A van de Wiel, Alexander M Menzies, Marta Lopez-Yurda, Lotte L Hoeijmakers, Robyn P M Saw, Judith M Lijnsvelt, Nigel G Maher, Saskia M Pulleman, Maria Gonzalez, Alejandro Torres Acosta, Winan J van Houdt, Serigne N Lo, Anke M J Kuijpers, Andrew Spillane, W Martin C Klop, Thomas E Pennington, Charlotte L Zuur, Kerwin F Shannon, Beatrijs A Seinstra, Robert V Rawson, John B A G Haanen, Sydney Ch'ng, Kishan A T Naipal, Jonathan Stretch, Johannes V van Thienen, Michael A Rtshiladze, Sofie Wilgenhof, Rony Kapoor, Aafke Meerveld-Eggink, Lindsay G Grijpink-Ongering, Alexander C J van Akkooi, Irene L M Reijers, David E Gyorki, Dirk J Grünhagen, Frank M Speetjens, Sonja B Vliek, Joanna Placzke, Lavinia Spain, Robert C Stassen, Mona Amini-Adle, Céleste Lebbé, Mark B Faries, Caroline Robert, Paolo A Ascierto, Rozemarijn van Rijn, Franchette W P J van den Berkmortel, Djura Piersma, Andre van der Westhuizen, Gerard Vreugdenhil, Maureen J B Aarts, Marion A M Stevense-den Boer, Victoria Atkinson, Muhammad Khattak, Miles C Andrews, Alfons J M van den Eertwegh, Marye J Boers-Sonderen, Geke A P Hospers, Matteo S Carlino, Jan-Willem B de Groot, Ellen Kapiteijn, Karijn P M Suijkerbuijk, Piotr Rutkowski, Shahneen Sandhu, Astrid A M van der Veldt, Georgina V Long | Christian U Blank | Netherlands Cancer Institute, France | New England Journal of Medicine | 314 | 10.1056/nejmoa2402604 |
| 3 | Safety, efficacy and determinants of response of allogeneic CD19-specific CAR-NK cells in CD19+ B cell tumors: a phase 1/2 trial | David Marin, Ye Li, Rafet Basar, Hind Rafei, May Daher, Jinzhuang Dou, Vakul Mohanty, Merve Dede, Yago Nieto, Nadima Uprety, Sunil Acharya, Enli Liu, Jeffrey Wilson, Pinaki Banerjee, Homer A Macapinlac, Christina Ganesh, Peter F Thall, Roland Bassett, Mariam Ammari, Sheetal Rao, Kai Cao, Mayra Shanley, Mecit Kaplan, Chitra Hosing, Partow Kebriaei, Loretta J Nastoupil, Christopher R Flowers, Sadie Mae Moseley, Paul Lin, Sonny Ang, Uday R Popat, Muzaffar H Qazilbash, Richard E Champlin, Ken Chen, Elizabeth J Shpall, Katayoun Rezvani | Katayoun Rezvani | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States | Nature Medicine | 236 | 10.1038/s41591-023-02785-8 |
| 4 | Targeting immunogenic cell stress and death for cancer therapy | Lorenzo Galluzzi, Emma Guilbaud, Darby Schmidt, Guido Kroemer, Francesco M Marincola | Guido Kroemer, Francesco M. Marincola | Weill Cornell Medical College, United States | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | 213 | 10.1038/s41573-024-00920-9 |
| 5 | Towards targeting the breast cancer immune microenvironment | Michael A Harris, Peter Savas, Balaji Virassamy, Megan M R O'Malley, Jasmine Kay, Scott N Mueller, Laura K Mackay, Roberto Salgado, Sherene Loi | Sherene Loi | University of Melbourne, Australia | Nature reviews. Cancer | 209 | 10.1038/s41568-024-00714-6 |
| 6 | Obecabtagene Autoleucel in Adults with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia | Claire Roddie, Karamjeet S Sandhu, Eleni Tholouli, Aaron C Logan, Paul Shaughnessy, Pere Barba, Armin Ghobadi, Manuel Guerreiro, Deborah Yallop, Mehrdad Abedi, Jeremy M Pantin, Jean A Yared, Amer M Beitinjaneh, Sridhar Chaganti, Katharine Hodby, Tobias Menne, Martha L Arellano, Ram Malladi, Bijal D Shah, Luke Mountjoy, Kristen M O'Dwyer, Karl S Peggs, Pierre Lao-Sirieix, Yiyun Zhang, Wolfram Brugger, Edgar Braendle, Martin Pule, Michael R Bishop, Daniel J DeAngelo, Jae H Park, Elias Jabbour | Claire Roddie | University College London, United Kingdom | New England Journal of Medicine | 190 | 10.1056/nejmoa2406526 |
| 7 | Immunogenic cell death in cancer: targeting necroptosis to induce antitumour immunity | Pascal Meier, Arnaud J Legrand, Dieter Adam, John Silke | Dieter Adam, John Silke | Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom | Nature reviews. Cancer | 179 | 10.1038/s41568-024-00674-x |
| 8 | Afamitresgene autoleucel for advanced synovial sarcoma and myxoid round cell liposarcoma (SPEARHEAD-1): an international, open-label, phase 2 trial | Sandra P D'Angelo, Dejka M Araujo, Albiruni R Abdul Razak, Mark Agulnik, Steven Attia, Jean-Yves Blay, Irene Carrasco Garcia, John A Charlson, Edwin Choy, George D Demetri, Mihaela Druta, Edouard Forcade, Kristen N Ganjoo, John Glod, Vicki L Keedy, Axel Le Cesne, David A Liebner, Victor Moreno, Seth M Pollack, Scott M Schuetze, Gary K Schwartz, Sandra J Strauss, William D Tap, Fiona Thistlethwaite, Claudia Maria Valverde Morales, Michael J Wagner, Breelyn A Wilky, Cheryl McAlpine, Laura Hudson, Jean-Marc Navenot, Tianjiao Wang, Jane Bai, Stavros Rafail, Ruoxi Wang, Amy Sun, Lilliam Fernandes, Erin Van Winkle, Erica Elefant, Colin Lunt, Elliot Norry, Dennis Williams, Swethajit Biswas, Brian A Van Tine | Sandra P. D’Angelo | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States | The Lancet | 160 | 10.1016/s0140-6736(24)00319-2 |
| 9 | Intravenous and intracranial GD2-CAR T cells for H3K27M+ diffuse midline gliomas | Michelle Monje, Jasia Mahdi, Robbie Majzner, Kristen W Yeom, Liora M Schultz, Rebecca M Richards, Valentin Barsan, Kun-Wei Song, Jen Kamens, Christina Baggott, Michael Kunicki, Skyler P Rietberg, Alexandria Sung Lim, Agnes Reschke, Sharon Mavroukakis, Emily Egeler, Jennifer Moon, Shabnum Patel, Harshini Chinnasamy, Courtney Erickson, Ashley Jacobs, Allison K Duh, Ramya Tunuguntla, Dorota Danuta Klysz, Carley Fowler, Sean Green, Barbara Beebe, Casey Carr, Michelle Fujimoto, Annie Kathleen Brown, Ann-Louise G Petersen, Catherine McIntyre, Aman Siddiqui, Nadia Lepori-Bui, Katlin Villar, Kymhuynh Pham, Rachel Bove, Eric Musa, Warren D Reynolds, Adam Kuo, Snehit Prabhu, Lindsey Rasmussen, Timothy T Cornell, Sonia Partap, Paul G Fisher, Cynthia J Campen, Gerald Grant, Laura Prolo, Xiaobu Ye, Bita Sahaf, Kara L Davis, Steven A Feldman, Sneha Ramakrishna, Crystal Mackall | Michelle Monje, Sneha Ramakrishna, Crystal L. Mackall | Stanford University, United States | Nature | 160 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08171-9 |
| 10 | Combined JAK inhibition and PD-1 immunotherapy for non–small cell lung cancer patients | Divij Mathew, Melina E Marmarelis, Caitlin Foley, Joshua M Bauml, Darwin Ye, Reem Ghinnagow, Shin Foong Ngiow, Max Klapholz, Soyeong Jun, Zhaojun Zhang, Robert Zorc, Christiana W Davis, Maximillian Diehn, Josephine R Giles, Alexander C Huang, Wei-Ting Hwang, Nancy R Zhang, Adam J Schoenfeld, Erica L Carpenter, Corey J Langer, E John Wherry, Andy J Minn | Divij Mathew, Melina E. Marmarelis, E. John Wherry, Andy J. Minn | University of Pennsylvania, United States | Science | 143 | 10.1126/science.adf1329 |
| 11 | Evolution of myeloid-mediated immunotherapy resistance in prostate cancer | Aram Lyu, Zenghua Fan, Matthew Clark, Averey Lea, Diamond Luong, Ali Setayesh, Alec Starzinski, Rachel Wolters, Marcel Arias-Badia, Kate Allaire, Kai Wu, Vibha Gurunathan, Laura Valderrábano, Xiao X Wei, Richard A Miller, Eliezer M Van Allen, Lawrence Fong | Lawrence Fong | University of California, San Francisco, United States | Nature | 136 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08290-3 |
| 12 | Tertiary lymphoid structures in anticancer immunity | Jean-Luc Teillaud, Ana Houel, Marylou Panouillot, Clémence Riffard, Marie-Caroline Dieu-Nosjean | Marie‐Caroline Dieu‐Nosjean | Sorbonne University, France | Nature reviews. Cancer | 131 | 10.1038/s41568-024-00728-0 |
| 13 | Probiotic neoantigen delivery vectors for precision cancer immunotherapy | Andrew Redenti, Jongwon Im, Benjamin Redenti, Fangda Li, Mathieu Rouanne, Zeren Sheng, William Sun, Candice R Gurbatri, Shunyu Huang, Meghna Komaranchath, YoungUk Jang, Jaeseung Hahn, Edward R Ballister, Rosa L Vincent, Ana Vardoshivilli, Tal Danino, Nicholas Arpaia | Tal Danino, Nicholas Arpaia | Columbia University, United States | Nature | 128 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08033-4 |
| 14 | Personalized neoantigen vaccine and pembrolizumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a phase 1/2 trial | Mark Yarchoan, Edward J Gane, Thomas U Marron, Renzo Perales-Linares, Jian Yan, Neil Cooch, Daniel H Shu, Elana J Fertig, Luciane T Kagohara, Gabor Bartha, Josette Northcott, John Lyle, Sarah Rochestie, Joann Peters, Jason T Connor, Elizabeth M Jaffee, Ildiko Csiki, David B Weiner, Alfredo Perales-Puchalt, Niranjan Y Sardesai | Mark Yarchoan, Niranjan Y. Sardesai | Johns Hopkins University, United States | Nature Medicine | 123 | 10.1038/s41591-024-02894-y |
| 15 | Lymph-node-targeted, mKRAS-specific amphiphile vaccine in pancreatic and colorectal cancer: the phase 1 AMPLIFY-201 trial | Shubham Pant, Zev A Wainberg, Colin D Weekes, Muhammad Furqan, Pashtoon M Kasi, Craig E Devoe, Alexis D Leal, Vincent Chung, Olca Basturk, Haley VanWyk, Amy M Tavares, Lochana M Seenappa, James R Perry, Thian Kheoh, Lisa K McNeil, Esther Welkowsky, Peter C DeMuth, Christopher M Haqq, Eileen M O'Reilly | Shubham Pant, Christopher M. Haqq, Eileen M. O’Reilly | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States | Nature Medicine | 122 | 10.1038/s41591-023-02760-3 |
| 16 | Claudin18.2-specific CAR T cells in gastrointestinal cancers: phase 1 trial final results | Changsong Qi, Chang Liu, Jifang Gong, Dan Liu, Xicheng Wang, Panpan Zhang, Yanru Qin, Sai Ge, Miao Zhang, Zhi Peng, Jun Zhou, Zhihao Lu, Ming Lu, Yanshuo Cao, Jiajia Yuan, Yakun Wang, Zhenghang Wang, Ran Xue, Xiaohui Peng, Yumeng Wang, Daijing Yuan, Jian Li, Xiaotian Zhang, Lin Shen | Changsong Qi | Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, China | Nature Medicine | 118 | 10.1038/s41591-024-03037-z |
| 17 | Cancer cells impair monocyte-mediated T cell stimulation to evade immunity | Anais Elewaut, Guillem Estivill, Felix Bayerl, Leticia Castillon, Maria Novatchkova, Elisabeth Pottendorfer, Lisa Hoffmann-Haas, Martin Schönlein, Trung Viet Nguyen, Martin Lauss, Francesco Andreatta, Milica Vulin, Izabela Krecioch, Jonas Bayerl, Anna-Marie Pedde, Naomi Fabre, Felix Holstein, Shona M Cronin, Sarah Rieser, Denarda Dangaj Laniti, David Barras, George Coukos, Camelia Quek, Xinyu Bai, Miquel Muñoz I Ordoño, Thomas Wiesner, Johannes Zuber, Göran Jönsson, Jan P Böttcher, Sakari Vanharanta, Anna C Obenauf | Anna C. Obenauf | Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Austria | Nature | 118 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08257-4 |
| 18 | CD19-CAR T-cell therapy induces deep tissue depletion of B cells | Carlo Tur, Markus Eckstein, Joachim Velden, Simon Rauber, Christina Bergmann, Janina Auth, Laura Bucci, Giulia Corte, Melanie Hagen, Andreas Wirsching, Ricardo Grieshaber-Bouyer, Petra Reis, Nicolai Kittan, Jochen Wacker, Aleix Rius Rigau, Andreas Ramming, Maria-Antonietta D'Agostino, Arndt Hartmann, Fabian Müller, Andreas Mackensen, Aline Bozec, Georg Schett, Maria Gabriella Raimondo | Maria Gabriella Raimondo | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany | Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases | 114 | 10.1136/ard-2024-226142 |
| 19 | Intratumoral immune triads are required for immunotherapy-mediated elimination of solid tumors | Gabriel Espinosa-Carrasco, Edison Chiu, Aurora Scrivo, Paul Zumbo, Asim Dave, Doron Betel, Sung Wook Kang, Hee-Jin Jang, Matthew D Hellmann, Bryan M Burt, Hyun-Sung Lee, Andrea Schietinger | Gabriel Espinosa-Carrasco, Andrea Schietinger | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States | Cancer Cell | 113 | 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.05.025 |
| 20 | Spatiotemporal single-cell analysis decodes cellular dynamics underlying different responses to immunotherapy in colorectal cancer | Yuqing Chen, Dongfang Wang, Yingjie Li, Lu Qi, Wen Si, Yufei Bo, Xueyan Chen, Zhaochen Ye, Hongtao Fan, Baolin Liu, Chang Liu, Li Zhang, Xiaoyan Zhang, Zhongwu Li, Linna Zhu, Aiwen Wu, Zemin Zhang | Dongfang Wang, Aiwen Wu, Zemin Zhang | Peking University, China | Cancer Cell | 108 | 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.06.009 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The 2024 cohort for Immunotherapy and Immune Responses is heavily focused on understanding and modulating the tumor microenvironment, alongside optimizing immune checkpoint blockade and combination immunotherapies. By dissecting the cellular neighborhood and immune cell infiltration within tumors, researchers are developing more targeted and effective treatments. We observe a strong presence of topics such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, PD-1 inhibition, and cytokine release syndrome, reflecting a mature field transitioning from single-agent therapies to complex combinatorial strategies designed to overcome resistance and enhance patient outcomes. This shift emphasizes the field's commitment to personalized and precise immunotherapeutic interventions.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

The shift from 2023 to 2024 reveals a dynamic re-prioritization in immunotherapy research. We see explosive growth in high-resolution analytical techniques, most notably spatial omics, which quadrupled in frequency, reflecting the field's need to map the tumor microenvironment with unprecedented detail. Simultaneously, specific therapeutic modalities like CD19 CAR T-cell therapy and the role of CD4+ T cells emerged as significant risers. Conversely, foundational concepts such as generic antigen presentation and broad studies on T cell exhaustion experienced marked declines, suggesting these areas have become settled science or are now integrated into more specialized contexts rather than serving as the primary focus of highly cited papers.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Immunotherapy and Immune Responses Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/immunotherapy-and-immune-responses/2026. Accessed 2026-07-21.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```