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Updated: Sep 15, 2025

A Nonviral Approach to Generate Transient Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Using mRNA for Cancer Immunotherapy
Published on: February 21, 2025
RNA immunotherapy: revolutionizing cancer and autoimmune disease treatments
Margarita Savguira1, David X W Chen2, Songtao Dong2
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G9, Canada.
Abstract:
RNA immunotherapy offers a versatile and scalable platform for reprogramming immune responses in cancer and autoimmunity. Advances in linear mRNA, self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), and circular RNA (circRNA) enable the programmable delivery of therapeutic proteins with improved stability, expression, and targeting. In cancer, RNA platforms have shown clinical promise in neoantigen vaccines, cytokine therapies, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immune cell engineering. In autoimmunity, RNA strategies are being developed to induce antigen-specific tolerance, expand regulatory T cells (Tregs), and deliver anti-inflammatory mediators. Structural optimizations and targeted delivery systems further enhance therapeutic efficacy and safety. This review discusses recent clinical progress, mechanistic foundations, and emerging directions for RNA immunotherapy as a broadly applicable platform across cancer and autoimmune disease contexts.
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