Adoptive Cell Therapy in Treating Pediatric Solid Tumors

Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review will discuss the challenges facing adoptive cell techniques in the treatment of solid tumors and examine the therapies that are in development for specifically pediatric solid tumors.

Recent Findings

Targeting solid tumors with adoptive cell therapy has been limited by the inhibitory tumor microenvironment and heterogeneous expression of targetable antigens. Many creative strategies to overcome these limitations are being developed but still need to be tested clinically. Early phase clinical trials in neuroblastoma with GD2 CAR T cells are promising but results need to be validated on a larger scale. Most research in other pediatric solid tumors is still in early stages.

Summary

Adoptive cell therapy represents a useful tool to improve the outcomes of many pediatric solid tumors but significant study is still required. Several clinical trials are ongoing to test therapies that have shown promise in the lab.