CAR-T Cell Therapy : Is There a Sweeter Future?Today 20:49
While it's quiet the paper below is worth a read.
CAR T therapy has been hugely successful in blood cancers but nobody has yet managed to crack CAR T for solid tumours. In the link below the researchers are exploring ways of improving CAR T through identification of new solid tumour targets and in particular glycans. A couple of quotes:-
'Carbohydrate antigens often exhibit low immunogenicity and typically elicit T-independent immune responses, posing an obstacle to T-cell engagement. Despite these limitations, the implication of TACAs (tumor-associated carbohydrates antigens) in cancer biology has recently sparked significant interest in their potential as targets for immunotherapy. '
'the large number of experimental approaches to circumvent these difficulties, including many studies that are underway, some already in clinical trials, suggest a bright future for CAR-T therapy for solid tumors. Given the limitations of target antigens, tumor-associated carbohydrates are increasingly being explored as optimal targets for this therapy. These carbohydrates can be highly tumor-specific, while being shared among tumors from different individuals and different tissues of origin; therefore, CAR-T cell therapy may have a promising “sweeter” future.'
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/13/9/725