Cell Press Supplement: Engineering Immune Cells for Cancer Therapy
Immunotherapy harnesses the immune system to fight cancer and has changed the way we treat many types of cancer. Engineered immune cells, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T and CAR natural killer (NK) cells, represent a powerful immunotherapeutic approach. CAR T or NK cells are engineered to target a specific tumor antigen by expressing a synthetic chimeric receptor with both antigen-binding and T or NK cell-activating function.
As our understanding of the anti-tumor immune response grows, a number of strategies have emerged for engineering immune cells for cancer therapy. Stem cell-derived NK cells create the possibility for “off-the-shelf” CAR NK cells, and approaches to improve the tumor selectivity of CAR T cells reduce their toxicity. This opens the door for the expanded use of CAR T and CAR NK cells and combination with other therapies.
The reviews and research in this Cell Press supplement offer a snapshot of the latest advances in this rapidly evolving field.
