Adoptive Cell Therapy for Cancer

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Adoptive cell therapy, also known as cellular immunotherapy, is a form of treatment that uses the cells of our immune system to eliminate cancer.

Our immune system is capable of recognizing and eliminating cells that have become infected or damaged as well as those that have become cancerous. In the case of cancer, immune cells known as killer T cells are particularly powerful against cancer, due to their ability to bind to markers known as antigens on the surface of cancer cells. Cellular immunotherapies take advantage of this natural ability and can be deployed in different ways:

  • Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Therapy
  • Engineered T Cell Receptor (TCR) Therapy
  • Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell Therapy
  • Natural Killer (NK) Cell Therapy

Today, cell therapies are constantly evolving and improving and providing new options to cancer patients. Cell therapies are currently being evaluated, both alone and in combination with other treatments, in a variety of cancer types in clinical trials.

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Therapy

Cancer patients have naturally occurring T cells that are often capable of targeting their cancer cells. These T cells are some of the most powerful immune cells in our body, and come in several types. The “killer” T cells, especially, are capable of recognizing and eliminating cancer cells in a very precise way.

One form of adoptive cell therapy that attempts to address these issues is called tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy. This approach harvests naturally occurring T cells that have already infiltrated patients’ tumors, and then activates and expands them. Then, large numbers of these activated T cells are re-infused into patients, where they can then seek out and destroy tumors.

Engineered TCR Therapy

Unfortunately, not all patients have T cells that have already recognized their tumors. Others patients might, but for a number of reasons, these T cells may not be capable of being activated and expanded to sufficient numbers to enable rejection of their tumors. For these patients, doctors may employ an approach known as engineered T cell receptor (TCR) therapy.

This approach also involves taking T cells from patients, but instead of just activating and expanding the available anti-tumor T cells, the T cells can also be equipped with a new T cell receptor that enables them to target specific cancer antigens.

CAR T Cell Therapy

The previously mentioned TIL and TCR therapies can only target and eliminate cancer cells that present their antigens in a certain context (when the antigens are bound by the major histocompatibility complex, or MHC).

Recent advances in cell-based immunotherapy have enabled doctors to overcome this limitation. Scientists equip a patient’s T cells with a synthetic receptor known as a CAR, which stands for chimeric antigen receptor.

A key advantage of CARs is their ability to bind to cancer cells even if their antigens aren’t presented on the surface via MHC, which can render more cancer cells vulnerable to their attacks. However, CAR T cells can only recognize antigens that themselves are naturally expressed on the cell surface, so the range of potential antigen targets is smaller than with TCRs.

Natural Killer (NK) Cell Therapy

More recently, adoptive cell therapy strategies have begun to incorporate other immune cells, such as Natural Killer (NK) cells. One application being explored in the clinic involves equipping these NK cells with cancer-targeting CARs.

 

Journal of Cancer Research and Immuno-Oncology is an open access rapid peer reviewed journal in the field of cancer research. Journal announces papers for the upcoming issue. Interested can submit their manuscript through online portal.

Submit manuscript at https://www.longdom.org/submissions/cancer-research-immuno-oncology.html or send as an e-mail attachment to the Editorial Office at immunooncology@emedscholar.com

Media contact:

Maegan Smith

Managing Editor

Journal of Cancer Research and Immuno-Oncology

Mail ID: immunooncology@emedscholar.com

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