This volume presents the most complicated and powerful cancer biotherapies developed. It provides an overview of human immune system function and the mechanisms by which adoptive cellular immunotherapies (ACI) harnesses the activity. The volume provides a vision on the developments in ACI.

This volume presents the most complicated and powerful cancer biotherapies developed. It provides an overview of human immune system function and the mechanisms by which adoptive cellular immunotherapies (ACI) harnesses the activity. The volume provides a vision on the developments in ACI.

This volume illustrates the salient aspects of cancer biology relevant to the successful implementation of immunotherapy. Topics include enhancement of antigen-specific immune responses by anti-cancer vaccines, modulation of the function of T cells within the tumor microenvironment, and the effects of genetic, epigenetic, developmental, and environmental determinants on T cell function. Other topics covered include the ex vivo expansion of T or other immune cells and their genetic modification or reprogramming to increase their ability to survive and expand when adoptively transferred back to the patients. Specific attention is devoted to the genetic manipulation of T cells through the introduction of re-directed T cell receptors, chimeric antibody receptors, and other genetic manipulation aimed at improving their effectiveness as anti-cancer agents. Furthermore, the revolutionary role of checkpoint inhibitors and their potential in combination with other immunotherapeutic approaches or with standard chemo and radiation therapy are extensively discussed.

Cancer research has progressed enormously in recent years. This review volume will address recent findings in the area of T-cell therapy for cancer, including use of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as a therapy for melanoma, choice of target antigens, advances in engineered receptors, methods of gene transfer to T cells, review of cell processing methods and clinical trial design. Written by leadings scientists in the field, this up-to-date review on cancer research will be an important reference source to the researchers and healthcare professionals in the field.

Adoptive cellular immunotherapy of cancer, particularly chimeric antigen receptor-transduced T cell (CAR-T) therapies, have enjoyed an explosion of clinical trials and translational and basic research in the past decade. The concept and design of the CAR, though originally intended to optimize targeting of innate natural killer cells (NK cells) to tumor-specific antigens, was laterally applied in the past decade to conventional autologous and later third-party allogeneic T cells with first-in-kind successes in leukemia immunotherapy in both adults and children. This approach also spawned the development of an entire industry focused on cancer immunotherapy, laying the foundation for the current paradigm shifts away from toxic chemo/radiotherapy to immune targeting. Aside from cytokine-release toxicities, specific obstacles plaguing existing CAR-T cell therapies include suboptimal killing by fatigued or senescent autologous patient-derived T cells derived, acquisition of tumor resistance to T-cell based immune therapies, and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) associated with allogeneic conventional T cell therapies.