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Related Concept Videos

Tumor Immunotherapy01:27

Tumor Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a treatment that boosts or manipulates the immune system to fight diseases, including cancer. For instance, by stimulating an immune response through vaccinations against viruses that cause cancers, like hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus, these diseases can be prevented. Nonetheless, some cancer cells can avoid the immune system due to their rapid mutation and division. The immune response to many cancers involves three phases: elimination, equilibrium, and escape.
Treatment Resistant Cancers02:56

Treatment Resistant Cancers

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. A cancer cell is genetically unstable and hence can mutate faster. They can also modify their microenvironment and escape immune surveillance. The difficulties in treating cancer are further compounded by the emergence of rapid resistance to anticancer drugs. The most common ways to attain resistance in cancer cells include alteration in drug transport and metabolism, modification of drug target, elevated DNA damage response, or...
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection01:22

T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection

T cells are integral to our adaptive immune system, recognizing and effectively responding to foreign antigens. T cell activation and clonal selection are pivotal in orchestrating this immune response. This article elucidates these mechanisms, detailing the roles of cluster of differentiation (CD) markers, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, costimulatory signals, and the process of clonal selection.
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance02:40

Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance

Early diagnosis and treatment can often cure cancer. However, even with treatment, residual cells called cancer stem cells (CSC) might remain, often causing tumor recurrence. These cancer stem cells possess the potential for self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation and are often responsible for the therapeutic resistance displayed in most cancers.
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response01:27

Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response

Cytotoxic T cells are a vital component of the immune system. They have the remarkable ability to identify and target antigens on infected or abnormal cells. These antigens often originate from intracellular pathogens such as viruses or abnormal proteins cancer cells produce.
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
The Tumor Microenvironment02:17

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

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Updated: May 23, 2026

Generation and Functional Verification of Hypoxia-Sensitive Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T Cells
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The three main stumbling blocks for anticancer T cells.

Lukas Baitsch1, Silvia A Fuertes-Marraco, Amandine Legat

  • 1Clinical Tumor Biology and Immunotherapy Unit, Ludwig Center for Cancer Research of the University of Lausanne, and Service of Radiation Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital Center, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Trends in Immunology
|March 27, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

T cells show promise against cancer but face hurdles like low affinity, poor immune stimulation, and T cell exhaustion. Overcoming these challenges through immunotherapy offers hope for better cancer treatment.

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Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Oncology
  • Cancer Immunotherapy

Background:

  • Memory and effector T cells are crucial for controlling cancer.
  • However, their effectiveness is limited by several key challenges in the tumor microenvironment.
  • These limitations hinder the development of effective cancer immunotherapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify and explain the primary obstacles preventing T cells from effectively combating cancer.
  • To discuss current immunotherapy strategies that partially address these obstacles.
  • To highlight the potential for future advancements in cancer immunotherapy.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on T cell function in cancer.
  • Analysis of the mechanisms behind T cell failure, including clonal deletion, immune stimulation, and T cell exhaustion.
  • Evaluation of current adoptive cell transfer and active immunotherapy approaches.

Main Results:

  • Three main barriers impede T cell anti-cancer activity: low T cell receptor (TCR) affinity, insufficient innate immune stimulation, and T cell suppression leading to exhaustion.
  • Adoptive cell transfer and active immunotherapy can partially mitigate these issues.
  • T cell exhaustion is reversible, offering a target for therapeutic improvement.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding the barriers to T cell function is critical for improving cancer immunotherapy.
  • Reversibility of T cell exhaustion and new molecular discoveries pave the way for enhanced clinical treatments.
  • Further research into overcoming T cell suppression and enhancing immune stimulation is essential for advancing cancer immunotherapy.