CAR-T and CAR-NK as cellular cancer immunotherapy for solid tumors

In the past decade, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has emerged as a promising immunotherapeutic approach for combating cancers, demonstrating remarkable efficacy in relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies in both pediatric and adult patients. CAR-natural killer (CAR-NK) cell complements CAR-T cell therapy by offering several distinct advantages. CAR-NK cells do not require HLA compatibility and exhibit low safety concerns. Moreover, CAR-NK cells are conducive to “off-the-shelf” therapeutics, providing significant logistic advantages over CAR-T cells. Both CAR-T and CAR-NK cells have shown consistent and promising results in hematological malignancies. However, their efficacy against solid tumors remains limited due to various obstacles including limited tumor trafficking and infiltration, as well as an immuno-suppressive tumor microenvironment. In this review, we discuss the recent advances and current challenges of CAR-T and CAR-NK cell immunotherapies, with a specific focus on the obstacles to their application in solid tumors. We also analyze in depth the advantages and drawbacks of CAR-NK cells compared to CAR-T cells and highlight CAR-NK CAR optimization. Finally, we explore future perspectives of these adoptive immunotherapies, highlighting the increasing contribution of cutting-edge biotechnological tools in shaping the next generation of cellular immunotherapy.