Gene Targets of CAR-T Cell Therapy for Glioblastoma

Cancers (Basel). 2023 Apr 18;15(8):2351. doi: 10.3390/cancers15082351.

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive primary brain tumor with a poor prognosis following conventional therapeutic interventions. Moreover, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) severely impedes the permeation of chemotherapy drugs, thereby reducing their efficacy. Consequently, it is essential to develop novel GBM treatment methods. A novel kind of pericyte immunotherapy known as chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell treatment uses CAR-T cells to target and destroy tumor cells without the aid of the antigen with great specificity and in a manner that is not major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted. It has emerged as one of the most promising therapy techniques with positive clinical outcomes in hematological cancers, particularly leukemia. Due to its efficacy in hematologic cancers, CAR-T cell therapy could potentially treat solid tumors, including GBM. On the other hand, CAR-T cell treatment has not been as therapeutically effective in treating GBM as it has in treating other hematologic malignancies. CAR-T cell treatments for GBM have several challenges. This paper reviewed the use of CAR-T cell therapy in hematologic tumors and the selection of targets, difficulties, and challenges in GBM.

Keywords: CAR-T; chimeric antigen receptor T-cell immunotherapy; glioblastoma; target.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This research was supported by The Interdisciplinary Innovative Talents Foundation from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University (JCRCFZ-2022-031).