Frontiers in Immunology (Jul 2022)

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T Cell Immunotherapy Against Thoracic Malignancies: Challenges and Opportunities

  • Long Chen,
  • Fukun Chen,
  • Huatao Niu,
  • Jindan Li,
  • Yongzhu Pu,
  • Conghui Yang,
  • Yue Wang,
  • Rong Huang,
  • Ke Li,
  • Yujie Lei,
  • Yunchao Huang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.871661
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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Different from surgery, chemical therapy, radio-therapy and target therapy, Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T (CAR-T) cells, a novel adoptive immunotherapy strategy, have been used successfully against both hematological tumors and solid tumors. Although several problems have reduced engineered CAR-T cell therapeutic outcomes in clinical trials for the treatment of thoracic malignancies, including the lack of specific antigens, an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, a low level of CAR-T cell infiltration into tumor tissues, off-target toxicity, and other safety issues, CAR-T cell treatment is still full of bright future. In this review, we outline the basic structure and characteristics of CAR-T cells among different period, summarize the common tumor-associated antigens in clinical trials of CAR-T cell therapy for thoracic malignancies, and point out the current challenges and new strategies, aiming to provide new ideas and approaches for preclinical experiments and clinical trials of CAR-T cell therapy for thoracic malignancies.

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