T cells successfully fighting cancer

Abstract

Else Marit Inderberg and Sébastien Wälchli from Oslo University Hospital explore what we need to know about T cells successfully fighting cancer. Cell-based immunotherapy uses the patient’s own immune cells to target and kill cancer cells in a specific manner. Lymphocytes called T cells are mainly used for this type of therapy, and to target them more efficiently against cancer cells, they are genetically modified to express chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) or T cell receptors (TCR) that bind proteins or peptides presented on the surface of cancer cells. There are currently six CAR T cell therapies approved for the treatment of blood cancers. However, none of these cellular therapies are yet available outside clinical studies for solid cancers.