The fundamental concept of immune cell therapy is to boost immune responses by externally supplying cells with the desired functionality to the patient for combatting cancer.It not only reinvigorates pre-existing immune responses but also drives new immune responses to the anti-tumor effort.The response of immune cell therapy commonly involves the activation and cooperation of multiple immune cell types, including antigenpresenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages, T lymphocytes (T cells), and natural killer (NK) cells. (References: Han, J., Zhang, B., Zheng, S., Jiang, Y., Zhang, X., & Mao, K. (2024). The progress and prospects of immune cell therapy for the treatment of cancer. Cell transplantation, 33, 09636897241231892.)

Mechanism: It works by enhancing the body’s natural immune

response to fight disease, often used when conventional therapies like chemotherapy are ineffective.

Types:

• CAR T-cell Therapy: Engineered T cells designed to identify specific antigens on cancer cells.
• Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) Therapy: Using naturally occurring immune cells found within the tumor.
• Natural Killer (NK) Cell Therapy: Utilizing robust immune cells to attack cancer.
• Dendritic Cell (DC) Therapy: Recalibrating the immune system to recognize cancer cells.