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Review
. 2021 Jul;20(7):531-550.
doi: 10.1038/s41573-021-00189-2. Epub 2021 May 10.

Navigating CAR-T cells through the solid-tumour microenvironment

Andrew J Hou  1 , Laurence C Chen  1 , Yvonne Y Chen  2   3   4
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Navigating CAR-T cells through the solid-tumour microenvironment

Andrew J Hou et al. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2021 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

The adoptive transfer of T cells that are engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) has shown remarkable success in treating B cell malignancies but only limited efficacy against other cancer types, especially solid tumours. Compared with haematological diseases, solid tumours present a unique set of challenges, including a lack of robustly expressed, tumour-exclusive antigen targets as well as highly immunosuppressive and metabolically challenging tumour microenvironments that limit treatment safety and efficacy. Here, we review protein- and cell-engineering strategies that seek to overcome these obstacles and produce next-generation T cells with enhanced tumour specificity and sustained effector function for the treatment of solid malignancies.

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