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Cancer cell therapy has become one of the most promising approaches for cancer treatment. In recent years, progress in the underlying science, clinical application and manufacturing of cell therapies has accelerated dramatically. Multiple approaches are now exploring different immune cell types as therapeutic platforms, as well as genetic approaches to enhance the antitumour potential of these cells. In this collection, three articles discuss some of these approaches and the challenges and opportunities for their clinical implementation.
In the first article, Kuball and colleagues analyse the tumour-specificity mechanisms of γδT cells and the potential to develop these cells into therapies against a broad range of cancers. In the second article, Depil and colleagues discuss the advantages and challenges of developing allogeneic ‘off-the-shelf’ T cell therapies, which could be prepared and optimized in advance. And finally, in the last article, Campana and colleagues discuss therapies based on natural killer (NK) cells, which can recognize and kill tumour cells rapidly and are also good candidates for off-the-shelf cell therapies.
γδT cells display potent cytotoxicity towards a large array of haematological and solid tumours while preserving normal tissues. In this Review, Sebestyen et al. analyse the tumour specificity mechanisms of γδT cells and the challenges and opportunities for the use of such cells and their receptors in cancer immunotherapy.
The use of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cells from donors has many potential advantages over autologous approaches, such as immediate availability, standardization and the possibility of redosing or combination. This Review analyses the different sources of T cells and technological approaches to produce optimal allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cells with limited potential for graft-versus-host disease and increased persistence.
Natural killer (NK) cells have a primordial role in tumour immunosurveillance. Given their potent antitumour activity, therapeutic manipulation of NK cells provides an attractive strategy for cancer treatment. This Review discusses new approaches to activate NK cells, increase their proliferation in vivo and increase their capacity to recognize tumour cells.