About this Research Topic

Background

Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide. Several anticancer approaches have been proposed in the 21st century with a remarkable impact on cancer patients’ survival. However, cancer heterogeneity limits the effectiveness of anticancer therapy due to the expansion of therapy-resistant cell clones.

Immunotherapy has emerged as one of the most effective treatments capable of overcoming tumor resistance mechanisms due to its capability to modulate the patient's immune response against cancer.
Personalized antitumor therapy based on T cells engineered to express a cancer-specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) acts directly on the immune system of patients. Specifically, this therapy enhances the recognition of cancer cells by T lymphocytes, thus promoting their elimination.

The purpose of this topic is to cover all the aspects of CAR T-cell therapy with particular emphasis on novel findings aimed at ameliorating the effectiveness of CAR T-cell-based immunotherapy and reducing side effects. Indeed, although this type of approach has been proved to be very valid in the treatment of hematopoietic tumors and partly of solid tumors, its efficacy has been limited by off-tumor effects and side effects (e.g., cytokine release syndrome, neuropathies, hypogammaglobulinemia). Moreover, tumor heterogeneity with consequent antigen escape represents a critical hurdle to be faced.

In this research topic we welcome the submission of articles related to the following themes:
• Novel applications of CAR T-cell therapy in cancer
• Novel viral and nonviral methods for the genetic modification of T cells
• Improvements on CAR T-cells targeting cancer stem cells
• Novel antigens targeted by CAR T-cells

This topic welcomes the submission of the following article types: Original Research, Review, Mini-Review, Methods, Perspective, Opinion, Editorial, General Commentary, Data Report, Hypothesis, and Theory.

Keywords: CAR T-cells, cancer, gene therapy, cancer therapy, cancer stem cells

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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