Current Advances in T-Cell-Based Cancer Immunotherapy

Abstract

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide; due to the lack of ideal cancer biomarkers for early detection or diagnosis, most patients present with late-stage disease at the time of diagnosis, thus limiting the potential for successful treatment. Traditional cancer treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, have demonstrated very limited efficacy for patients with late-stage disease. Therefore, innovative and effective cancer treatments are urgently needed for cancer patients with late-stage and refractory disease. Cancer immunotherapy, particularly adoptive cell transfer, has shown great promise in the treatment of patients with late-stage disease, including those who are refractory to standard therapies. In this review, we will highlight recent advances and discuss future directions in adoptive cell transfer based cancer immunotherapy.

A Molecular Basis for the Presentation of Phosphorylated Peptides by HLA-B Antigens

“…Additionally, even though the preference for a basic residue at P1 in the ligands phosphorylated at P4 is common to all the alleles studied so far, the magnitude of this preference is certainly allotype dependent. DISCUSSION T-cell-based immunotherapy is an emerging new strategy for cancer treatment, especially in late-stage diseases or those that do not respond to conventional therapies (44). This approach relies critically on the identification of tumor-specific MHC-restricted antigens capable of triggering an effective antitumor response.…”

mRNA as novel technology for passive immunotherapy

“…For cellular approaches, CTLs are equipped with recombinant receptors ex vivo. These cells are designed to attack neoplastic cells that express the cognate tumorassociated antigen immediately after infusion [5]. Passive immunization by administration of processed antibodies derived from human or animal donors is a well-established emergency procedure for treatment of snake-bite envenomation or post exposure prophylaxis against, for example, rabies [10].…”

Conceptual Spaces of the Immune System

“…T-cell-based cancer immunotherapy, as another example, requires the identification of ideal cancer antigens, i.e., , as well as achievement of the right immunological semantics to enhance in vivo persistency and survival of adoptively transferred T cells (27). …”