Immunotherapy research has shown how to use an individual's immune system to attack tumors and malignancies. Many of the proposals attempted to employ natural killer cells or B cells, however, the study has not progressed beyond conceptual thought. Immuno-oncology is a developing therapeutic modality in which medicines are being researched for their ability to offer long-term survival across a wide variety of tumor types.
The concept of targeting the immune system as a cancer treatment strategy is not new. For decades, cytokines have been utilized to treat individuals with renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. The cytokines, however, are not target-specific and have been linked to substantial toxicity and poor effectiveness. These restrictions make it difficult for patients to employ this approach.
The experience with T cells, including the engineering of T cells to express chimeric antigen-specific receptors, is giving proof of concept evidence for an emerging area of cellular therapy. Biopharma is working to customize cancer therapy through the use of CAR T cells. Immuno-oncology and cell treatments will transform cancer treatment, particularly in solid tumors and high-risk cancers.
Clinical achievements using CD-19 CAR T cells in leukemia and lymphoma have strengthened the field and resulted in substantial pharmaceutical venture capital financing. Despite the tremendous success of CAR T cell treatments, numerous difficulties remain. The first is the expansion of CAR T cell therapy into two distinct disease and institutional domains. Although target identification is an important field of research, prospective targets for many illnesses remain undefinable.