AUTHOR=Patel Shabnum , Burga Rachel A. , Powell Allison B. , Chorvinsky Elizabeth A. , Hoq Nia , McCormack Sarah E. , Van Pelt Stacey N. , Hanley Patrick J. , Cruz Conrad Russell Y. 

TITLE=Beyond CAR T Cells: Other Cell-Based Immunotherapeutic Strategies Against Cancer

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2019.00196

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2019.00196

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells have successfully harnessed T cell immunity against malignancies, but they are by no means the only cell therapies in development for cancer.</p><p><bold>Main Text Summary:</bold> Systemic immunity is thought to play a key role in combatting neoplastic disease; in this vein, genetic modifications meant to explore other components of T cell immunity are being evaluated. In addition, other immune cells—from both the innate and adaptive compartments—are in various stages of clinical application. In this review, we focus on these non-CAR T cell immunotherapeutic approaches for malignancy. The first section describes engineering T cells to express non-CAR constructs, and the second section describes other gene-modified cells used to target malignancy.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> CAR T cell therapies have demonstrated the clinical benefits of harnessing our body's own defenses to combat tumor cells. Similar research is being conducted on lesser known modifications and gene-modified immune cells, which we highlight in this review.</p>