Nicotinamide drives T cell activation in the mammary tumor microenvironment

Nicotinamide (NAM, a variant of vitamin B(3)) has recently been shown to accelerate the activation of human CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells exposed to repeated CD3/CD28 agonism in vitro. Here, we demonstrate that T cells infiltrating mouse mammary carcinomas that are therapeutically controlled by NAM also express multiple markers of late-stage activation. Taken together, these findings lend additional support to the notion that the antineoplastic effects of NAM involve at least some degree of restored cancer immunosurveillance. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03454-z.