{"title":"The clinical landscape of CAR-engineered unconventional T cells.","authors":"Yan-Ruide Li, Yichen Zhu, Yuning Chen, Lili Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.trecan.2025.03.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Unconventional T cells, such as invariant natural killer T (iNKT), γδ T, and mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, play a pivotal role in bridging innate and adaptive immunity. Their capacity for rapid tumor targeting and effective modulation of the tumor microenvironment (TME) makes them promising candidates for cancer immunotherapy. Advances in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineering have further highlighted their therapeutic potential, particularly for treating challenging cancers. Notably, these cells exhibit favorable safety profiles, enhancing their viability as off-the-shelf therapeutic options. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the clinical applications of CAR-engineered unconventional T cells, focusing on genetic modifications, manufacturing processes, preconditioning regimens, and dosing strategies. We discuss successful examples from recent clinical trials and explore future directions for utilizing these cells in cancer therapy and beyond.</p>","PeriodicalId":23336,"journal":{"name":"Trends in cancer","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in cancer","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2025.03.001","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Unconventional T cells, such as invariant natural killer T (iNKT), γδ T, and mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, play a pivotal role in bridging innate and adaptive immunity. Their capacity for rapid tumor targeting and effective modulation of the tumor microenvironment (TME) makes them promising candidates for cancer immunotherapy. Advances in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineering have further highlighted their therapeutic potential, particularly for treating challenging cancers. Notably, these cells exhibit favorable safety profiles, enhancing their viability as off-the-shelf therapeutic options. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the clinical applications of CAR-engineered unconventional T cells, focusing on genetic modifications, manufacturing processes, preconditioning regimens, and dosing strategies. We discuss successful examples from recent clinical trials and explore future directions for utilizing these cells in cancer therapy and beyond.
期刊介绍:
Trends in Cancer, a part of the Trends review journals, delivers concise and engaging expert commentary on key research topics and cutting-edge advances in cancer discovery and medicine.
Trends in Cancer serves as a unique platform for multidisciplinary information, fostering discussion and education for scientists, clinicians, policy makers, and patients & advocates.Covering various aspects, it presents opportunities, challenges, and impacts of basic, translational, and clinical findings, industry R&D, technology, innovation, ethics, and cancer policy and funding in an authoritative yet reader-friendly format.