Advances in CAR T-cell therapy in bile duct, pancreatic, and gastric cancers

Abstract

Bile duct, pancreatic, and gastric cancers are deadly digestive system tumors with high malignancy and poor patient prognosis. The efficiencies of conventional surgical treatment, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are limited. In contrast, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy represents a landmark therapeutic approach to antitumor immunity with great efficacy in treating several hematological malignancies. CAR T-cell therapy involves genetically engineering the expression of specific antibodies based on the patient's T-cell surface and amplifying these antibodies to identify and target tumor-associated antigens. CAR T-cell therapy can effectively inhibit disease progression and improve the survival of patients with bile duct, pancreatic, and gastric cancers. The effectiveness of CAR T cells in tumor therapy can be validated using xenograft models, providing a scientific testing platform. In this study, we have reviewed the progress in CAR T-cell production and its development, focusing on the current status and optimization strategies for engineered CAR T cells in the bile duct, pancreatic, and gastric cancers.

Keywords: CAR T cells; chimeric antigen receptors; digestive tumors; immunotherapy; xenograft models.

Figure 1

(A) CAR T-cell therapy and the structure of CARs. (B) Engineered CAR T cells in bile duct cancer. (C) Engineered CAR T cells in pancreatic cancer. (D) Engineered CAR T cells in gastric ancer.

Figure 2

Illustration of the construction method of the xenograft model. (A) CDX model. (B) PDX model. P0 indicates mice directly inoculated with patient tumor tissue. P1 indicates mice with tumor tissues isolated from P0 generation mice for transplantation into the body. Pn indicates the Nth generation of mice passed on in accordance with the abovememtioned process.