MINI REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing T Cell Effectors: From Mechanisms to TherapiesView all articles
Nutritional intervention alleviates T cell exhaustion and empowers anti-tumor immunity
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- 2Zhuhai City People's Hospital, Zhuhai, China
- 3The Seventh Affiliated Hospital Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
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T cells are central mediators of adaptive immunity, playing a pivotal role in eliminating pathogens and tumor cells. In the context of chronic infections and cancer, however, persistent antigenic stimulation drives T cells into a state of exhaustion characterized by diminished effector function, sustained expression of inhibitory receptors, and profound metabolic reprogramming. Emerging evidence indicates that T cell exhaustion is not irreversible and can be alleviated through immune checkpoint blockade, such as targeting PD-1. Moreover, increasing attention has been directed toward the role of intracellular metabolic pathways in shaping T cell fate and function. Strategies aimed at enhancing nutrient availability and metabolic fitness offer an additional avenue to restore T cell activity. This review highlights recent advances in reversing T cell exhaustion through immune checkpoint inhibitors and nutritional interventions, providing novel insights into the precision and personalization of cancer immunotherapy.
Keywords: antitumor immunity, Exhausted T cells, immune checkpoint inhibitors, Immunotherapy, Nutrients
Received: 22 Aug 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Yuan, Li and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ke Li
Peng Li
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