Pathogen-fighting immune cells called tissue-resident memory CD8 T cells (T_RM cells) go through a surprising transformation—and relocation—as they fight infections in the small intestine.

By studying biomarkers known to be involved in gastrointestinal cancers, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a biomarker algorithm that, when combined with a noninvasive method to collect esophageal cells for study, could give clinicians insight into which patients have esophageal cancer or precancerous conditions such as Barrett’s esophagus (BE) or high-grade dysplasia.