Purpose of review: The remarkable and durable clinical responses seen in certain solid tumours using checkpoint inhibitors and in haematological malignancies using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T therapy have led to great interest in the possibility of using engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) and CAR T therapies to treat solid tumours.
Recent findings: In this article, we focus on the published clinical data for engineered TCR and CAR T therapy in solid tumours and recent preclinical work to explore how these therapies may develop and improve. We discuss recent approaches in target selection, encouraging epitope spreading and replicative capacity, CAR activation, T-cell trafficking, survival in the immunosuppressive microenvironment, universal T-cell therapies, manufacturing processes and managing toxicity.
Summary: In haematological malignancies, CAR T treatments have shown remarkable clinical responses. Engineered TCR and CAR therapies demonstrate responses in numerous preclinical models of solid tumours and have shown objective clinical responses in select solid tumour types. It is anticipated that the integration of efficacious changes to the T-cell products from disparate preclinical experiments will increase the ability of T-cell therapies to overcome the challenges of treating solid tumours and note that healthcare facilities will need to adapt to deliver these treatments.