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REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1432799
This article is part of the Research Topic Emerging Strategies to Overcome Current Roadblocks in CAR T Cell Immunotherapy View all 6 articles

ReCARving the Future: Bridging CAR T-Cell Therapy Gaps with Synthetic Biology, Engineering, and Economic Insights

Provisionally accepted
Alaa Ali Alaa Ali 1*John DiPersio John DiPersio 2
  • 1 Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
  • 2 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of hematologic malignancies, offering remarkable remission rates in otherwise refractory conditions. However, its expansion into broader oncological applications faces significant hurdles, including limited efficacy in solid tumors, safety concerns related to toxicity, and logistical challenges in manufacturing and scalability. This review critically examines the latest advancements aimed at overcoming these obstacles, highlighting innovations in CAR T-cell engineering, novel antigen targeting strategies, and improvements in delivery and persistence within the tumor microenvironment. We also discuss the development of allogeneic CAR T cells as off-the-shelf therapies, strategies to mitigate adverse effects, and the integration of CAR T cells with other therapeutic modalities. This comprehensive analysis underscores the synergistic potential of these strategies to enhance the safety, efficacy, and accessibility of CAR T-cell therapies, providing a forward-looking perspective on their evolutionary trajectory in cancer treatment.

    Keywords: CAR T-cell therapy, Immunotherapy, Synthetic Biology, gene editing, allogeneic CAR T cells, Immunosuppressive microenvironment

    Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 12 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ali and DiPersio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alaa Ali, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 20057, District of Columbia, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.