The road ahead for chimeric antigen receptor T cells

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cell therapy is an innovative form of immunotherapy that has shown remarkable and long-term responses in patients with B-cell malignancies. Over the years, the field has made significant progress in our understanding of the successes and challenges associated with CART cell therapy. In this review, we provide an overview of the current state of CART cell therapy in the clinic. We detail current challenges including patient access, CART-associated toxicity, tumor heterogeneity, CART cell trafficking, the tumor microenvironment, and different CART cell fates. With each challenge, we review lessons learned, potential solutions and outline areas for future development. Finally, we discuss how the field of engineered cell therapy is moving into the treatment of solid tumors and other diseases beyond cancer.

Keywords: autoimmune disease; cancer; chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy; immunotherapy.