Current progress in CAR-T cell therapy for tumor treatment (Review)

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells are a type of tumor immunotherapy that is a breakthrough technology in the clinical treatment of tumors. The basic principle of this method is to extract the patient's T cells and equip them with targeting recognition receptors of tumor cells and return them to the patient's body to recognize and kill tumor cells specifi- cally. Most CAR-T cell therapies treat hematological diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma and achieved encouraging results. The safety and effectiveness of CAR-T cell technology in solid tumor treatment require to be improved, although it has demonstrated promising efficacy in treating hematological malignancies. It is worth noting that certain patients may experience fatal adverse reactions after receiving CAR-T cell therapy. At present, the difficulty of this therapy mainly lies in how to reduce adverse reactions and target escape effects during the course of treatment. The improvement of CAR-T cell therapy mainly focuses on improving CAR-T structure, finding suitable tumor targets and combining them with immune checkpoint inhibitors to the enhance efficacy and safety of treatment. The problems in the rapid development of CAR-T cell therapy provide both obstacles and opportuni- ties. The present review elaborates on the clinical application of CAR-T cell technology to provide a reference for clinical practice and research on tumor treatment.