A global immune gene expression signature for human cancers

Abstract Background: Except for a few, the immune gene signatures for most cancer types are not available. We sought to identify a global immune gene signature that is applicable to all human cancers. Results: We identified an immune gene signature that was intimately correlated with tumor immune characteristics of human cancers and consisted of 382 genes indicative of different immune cell types. The T helper type 1 and 2 cell activation pathway was most significantly enriched in this global immune