Pediatric cancers in need of new and effective interventions include relapsed or refractory brain tumors like glioblastoma and DIPG; sarcomas like osteosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma; and neuroblastoma. Adoptive Immunotherapy with engineered T cells for pediatric cancers has been a major focus of laboratory research and is just now being clinically evaluated. The most effective lymphocyte effector populations are being defined with increasing specificity in order to meet the challenges that immunotherapy of solid tumors present, in contrast to the current success seen with pre-B ALL. This Research Topic will focus of novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) formats, new genetic payloads that enhance T cell anti-tumor activity, and the creation or selection of lymphocyte populations that more effectively penetrate and resist the immune-inhibitory tumor microenvironment.
Pediatric cancers in need of new and effective interventions include relapsed or refractory brain tumors like glioblastoma and DIPG; sarcomas like osteosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma; and neuroblastoma. Adoptive Immunotherapy with engineered T cells for pediatric cancers has been a major focus of laboratory research and is just now being clinically evaluated. The most effective lymphocyte effector populations are being defined with increasing specificity in order to meet the challenges that immunotherapy of solid tumors present, in contrast to the current success seen with pre-B ALL. This Research Topic will focus of novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) formats, new genetic payloads that enhance T cell anti-tumor activity, and the creation or selection of lymphocyte populations that more effectively penetrate and resist the immune-inhibitory tumor microenvironment.