T cell immunotherapy: From synthetic biology to clinical practice

Abstract

T lymphocytes have the ability to recognize, eliminate, and control cancer by means of their cytolytic potential, production of soluble mediators, and their ability to alter the tumor microenvironment. Polyclonal T cell populations, T cell clones, and T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have all been expanded in various ways outside the body and then reintroduced for therapeutic effect. From naturally occurring T cell populations that infiltrate the tumor, such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in melanoma, to T cells engineered with gene vectors to encode chimeric molecules not encoded by the genome, an example of synthetic biology, T cell immunotherapy is an exemplary model of the translation of basic concepts developed at the bench to cutting-edge therapeutic options for patients with advanced disease.