Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Manufacturing Chimeric Antigen Receptor CAR T Cells for Adoptive Immunotherapy
06:51

Manufacturing Chimeric Antigen Receptor CAR T Cells for Adoptive Immunotherapy

Published on: December 17, 2019

16.0K

The Next Generation of Immunotherapy for Cancer: Small Molecules Could Make Big Waves

William G Kerr1,2,3, John D Chisholm2

  • 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210; kerrw@upstate.edu.

Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
|December 28, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Small molecule immunotherapies are emerging as a powerful new approach to cancer treatment. These therapies aim to boost the immune system

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Cancer immunotherapies have proven effective, establishing immuno-oncology as a key cancer treatment modality.
  • Ongoing research seeks novel strategies to enhance anti-cancer immune responses.
  • Small molecules are being investigated to modulate the tumor microenvironment and T-cell activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide an overview of small molecule immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer treatment.
  • To highlight the potential of these novel strategies in monotherapy or combination treatments.
  • To discuss their future role in augmenting the immune system's fight against cancer.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on small molecule immunotherapies.
  • Analysis of mechanisms for reducing tumor immune suppression.
  • Exploration of methods to enhance cytotoxic lymphocyte responses.

Main Results:

  • Small molecules can be designed to either decrease immune suppression within the tumor or increase the activation of tumor-targeting immune cells.
  • These agents show promise for use as standalone treatments or in combination with existing cancer therapies.
  • The development of small molecule immunotherapies represents a significant advancement in harnessing the immune system against cancer.

Conclusions:

  • Small molecule immunotherapies are a rapidly developing field with the potential to significantly improve cancer treatment outcomes.
  • These approaches offer new avenues to enhance the efficacy of existing cancer therapies.
  • Further research and development in small molecule immunotherapeutics will expand the oncologist's arsenal against cancer.

More Related Videos

A Nonviral Approach to Generate Transient Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Using mRNA for Cancer Immunotherapy09:56

A Nonviral Approach to Generate Transient Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Using mRNA for Cancer Immunotherapy

Published on: February 21, 2025

1.4K
Generation of a Novel Dendritic-cell Vaccine Using Melanoma and Squamous Cancer Stem Cells12:43

Generation of a Novel Dendritic-cell Vaccine Using Melanoma and Squamous Cancer Stem Cells

Published on: January 6, 2014

12.2K

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.
1.9K
The Wave Nature of Light02:12

The Wave Nature of Light

The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.
61.3K
Molecules and Compounds02:38

Molecules and Compounds

Atoms and Molecules
68.7K
Wave Parameters01:10

Wave Parameters

The simplest mechanical waves are associated with simple harmonic motion and repeat themselves for several cycles. These simple harmonic waves can be modeled using a combination of sine and cosine functions. Consider a simplified surface water wave that moves across the water's surface. Unlike complex ocean waves, in surface water waves, water moves vertically, oscillating up and down, whereas the disturbance of the wave moves horizontally through the medium. If a seagull is floating on the...
9.3K
Reflection of Waves01:07

Reflection of Waves

When a wave travels from one medium to another, it gets reflected at the boundary of the second medium. A common example of this is when a person yells at a distance from a cliff and hears the echo of their voice. The sound waves (longitudinal waves) traveling in the air are reflected from the bounding cliff. Similarly, flipping one end of a string whose other end is tied to a wall causes a pulse (transverse wave) to travel through the string, which gets reflected upon reaching the wall. In...
4.6K
Half wave rectifier01:20

Half wave rectifier

A half-wave rectifier is a fundamental circuit in electronics, designed to convert alternating current (AC) voltage into a unidirectional voltage. It utilizes the simplest form of diode rectification, where the circuit comprises a single diode in series with a load resistor and an AC power source.
2.4K