Adoptive T-Cell Transfer: Harnessing Immune Cells to Combat Disease

Abstract

Immunotherapies have recently shown great clinical potential as medical treatment in cancer patients. The majority of these therapies aim to stimulate a selective robust immune response that eliminates what is harmful, while not damaging normal tissues. Only with careful investigation of immunity and disease can we understand how to harness the selectivity and memory of the immune system. The majority of currently approved immunotherapeutic agents consist of antibodies that require multiple infusions. In order to generate memory, the cellular component of the immune system is required. These can either be engaged in the patient directly (a vaccine approach) or manipulated and given back to the patient in a process known as adoptive cell therapy. By manipulating these cells ex vivo, they can be genetically modified to instruct complex and specific long-term immune responses. As biotechnology rapidly improves, various aspects of adoptive T-cell transfer are important to consider and could be optimised.

Key Concepts

• Adoptive T-cell therapy is the transfer of T cells that can be derived either from the same patient (autologous) or from a different person (allogeneic).
• T cells can be collected and modified using gene transfer techniques before they are re-infused to the patient.
• New antigen receptors can be used to re-direct T cells to recognise tumour proteins or infections. T cells may also be modified in other ways to harness their ability to specifically kill target cells, such as tumours.