Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) such as dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and cellular therapies aimed at treating cancer, including approaches using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (T-ILs), NK cells, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, and engineered T cells (TCR). These cells determine the success or failure of cancer treatments by modulating immune cell functions, affecting the balance between graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effects, and in some cases curbing the efficacy against solid tumors due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. While some APC strategies like the use of abatacept to prevent GvHD are FDA-approved, the potential of APCs in enhancing anti-cancer activities in other contexts remains under-exploited.

This Research Topic aims to elucidate how different strategies involving APCs can be leveraged to enhance the efficacy of HSCT and various anti-cancer cellular therapies. With a focus on both allo-HSCT and autologous cellular therapies, the goal is to uncover new clinical and pre-clinical strategies to modulate immune interactions that would improve therapeutic outcomes. This involves exploring FDA-approved methods and emerging strategies such as DC and tumor antigen vaccine combinations that amplify CAR T cell efficacy, especially against solid tumors.

To gather further insights in the dynamic interactions of APCs in HSCT and cellular therapies, we welcome Original Research, Review and Mini-Review, and Perspective articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
o Advanced phenotyping or functional analysis of host and/or donor APC subsets that influence GvHD and GvL activity
o Impact of advanced GvHD therapies on APC reconstitution
o Impact of tissue-resident APCs on GvHD and GvL effects and underlying mechanisms
o Strategies to improve outcomes of allo-transplantation and CAR-based cellular therapies (conventional CAR-T, CAR-NK, CAR-iNKT)
o DC-based approaches to improve the efficacy of T-IL therapy
o DC-based cancer vaccines strategies
o Involvement of microbiome in APC generation and function

We are especially interested in groundbreaking research that opens new avenues for improving efficacy and safety in using APCs to shape favorable immune environments in cancer treatments

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Frontiers in Immunology

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