T cell therapies can lead to deep and durable responses in a range of solid tumors. This has been demonstrated for both engineered T cells, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and T cell receptor (TCR) T cells, as well as non-engineered approaches such as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) or T cells stimulated from peripheral blood. The common goal of these approaches is to direct a significant T cell response specifically to the tumor. In order to make these therapies more effective and accessible to the maximum number of patients, several key challenges need to be addressed, considering both the T cell specificity, potency and safety, as well as the complexity of the manufacturing process and the patient experience.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together innovations and advancements that address key scientific, technological, and clinical challenges in improving efficacy and expanding the reach of cell therapies to a broader patient population. This Research Topic seeks to cover the full spectrum of the therapeutic development pipeline, including the identification and validation of novel targets, strategies to enhance the potency and persistence of cell therapies while mitigating toxicities, assessment of potential mechanisms of cell therapy failure, and innovative approaches to overcome barriers in manufacturing scalability and accessibility.
Additionally, we invite contributions that explore novel manufacturing techniques, such as in vivo generation of cell therapies, and process engineering strategies that simplify production and increase affordability.
We also welcome submissions related to clinical experiences, including experimental trials and strategies to manage the unique toxicities associated with T-cell therapeutics. Through this interdisciplinary effort, the collection aspires to accelerate the translation of scientific breakthroughs into practical, scalable, and impactful treatments, ultimately broadening access to potentially curative therapies.
Key scientific advances:
- Identification and validation of targets, including shared antigens or personalized neoantigens, to enable broader and deeper responses.
- Computational approaches to refine target identification, receptor identification and optimization.
- Strategies to enhance T cell functionality, persistence, and infiltration into the tumor microenvironment (TME) for durable responses.
Scalability:
- Approaches to streamline and simplify manufacturing processes, increasing access to adoptive cell therapies (ACTs) for more patients.
- Development of innovative methods, such as in vivo manufacturing, to generate cellular immunotherapies more efficiently and lower costs.
Clinical considerations:
- Patient stratification using genetic or molecular markers and advanced computational methods to identify those most likely to benefit.
- Safety frameworks to mitigate risks, from target selection to clinical toxicities, including preclinical model development and clinical toxicity management strategies.
Topic Editors Drs. Marit van Buuren and Vikram Juneja have links as employees & stockholders of BioNTech. Also, as inventors on BioNTech patents.
Topic Editor Dr. Gavin Bendle has links as an employee & stockholder of AstraZeneca. Also, as inventor on AstraZeneca patents.
Topic Editor Dr. Eric Tran is a consultant for AstraZeneca and Pathfinder Oncology.
Keywords: Solid tumors, Adoptive Cell Therapy, Safety enhancement, Patient access, Therapeutic Development, efficacy improvement
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
