Engineer immune cells to fight cancer

Abstract

distinct markers and eliminating them in a process termed immune surveillance. However, one hallmark of tumor cells is their ability to escape immune recognition, and even suppress the body’s natural immune response.2 The idea of manipulating immune cells to fight cancer dates back more than a century ago. It has been shown that B cells as well as T cells, natural killer cells, monocytes and other immune cells could infiltrate into tumor mass and actively regulate its growth and metastasis. Extensive studies have been performed to better understand the cross talk between cancer cells and immune components. Recently, in addition to traditional treatments targeting malignant cancer cells, increasing emphasis has been put on redirecting the immune responses to eradicate tumor cells, so-called cancer immunotherapy.