Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells are genetically modified autologous T cells that have revolutionized the treatment of relapsing and refractory haematological malignancies. In this review we present molecular pathways involved in the activation of CAR-T cells, describe in details the structures of receptors and the biological activity of CAR-T cells currently approved for clinical practice in the European Union, and explain the functional differences between them. Finally, we present the potential for the development of CAR-T cells in Poland, as well as indicate the possible directions of future research in this area, including novel modifications and applications of CAR-T cells and CAR-natural killer (NK) cells.
Keywords: CAR-NK; CAR-T; T cells; axicabtagene ciloleucel; brexucabtagene autoleucel; chimeric antigen receptor; ciltacabtagene autoleucel; idecabtagene vicleucel; lisocabtagene maraleucel; tisagenlecleucel.