Although not much is known about DC heterogeneity in tumours, DCs isolated from various steady-state and inflamed tissues have been shown to represent a heterogeneous population consisting of developmentally distinct DC subsets11, 12, 13, including cDC1s (CD8α+-like or CD103+ conventional DCs), cDC2s (CD11b+-like cDCs), plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and so-called monocyte-derived DCs (Mo-DCs)12, 14, 15. The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is neoplasm.