This article was written by Yang, Fujian Medical University
Review expert of this article: Professor Li Jing from the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University.
Introduction
Immune cells are an important part of the body's immune system and the body's main force in eliminating cancer cells. In recent years, with the more and more extensive research on immune cells in cancer**, there has been a gradual accumulation of literature reports on immune cells** helping to improve cancer prognosis, revealing that immune cells** have the potential to help cancer patients prevent tumor progression, prevent**, and rebuild immune homeostasis. This article summarizes case reports of immune cell cancers to help you understand the potential of immune cells in cancer** and improve prognosis.
When it comes to cancer, everyone is terrified, and cancer incidence and mortality rates are rising worldwide, with an estimated 2,001,140 new cancer cases and 611,720 cancer deaths expected in the United States in 2024[1]. At present, although with the advancement of science and technology, more and more tumor methods have been clinically applied, there are still a considerable proportion of patients who cannot be effective. In recent years, immune cell-based development has brought profound changes to the field of oncology.
Immune cells, also known as adoptive immune cells, the process is to extract the body's own immune cells, after in vitro modification and culture, so that the number increases, the function is enhanced, and then infused back into the patient's body, these in vitro processed cells can play a powerful killing function in the body, activate and enhance the body's immunity, maintain the balance of the body's immunity, kill cancer cells and mutant cells in the body, so as to achieve the purpose of effective control of disease, effectively control the metastasis of cancer cells and **.
*From Ref. [2].A variety of immune cells are used in the clinical application of cancer**
At present, the immune cells involved in the field of cancer** include tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), TCR-T cells, CAR-T cells, CAR-NK cells, NK cells, and so on. Different classes of cells have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The picture above shows some adoptive immune cells** from the literature [3] At present, among the immune cells of cancer**, the most concerned are CAR-T and CAR-NK cells, which first collect T NK cells from healthy donors of patients and modify them in vitro to bring receptors that can specifically target antigens on the surface of tumor cells, which is equivalent to loading the cells with a GPS, and then re-infusing these modified cells to the patient, so that they can snipe tumor cells more accurately.
As of now, it is registered in the US clinical trial registry clinicaltrialsThere are more than 1,300 clinical studies on CAR-T*** tumors registered on GOV** alone. In China, 4 CAR-T immune cells** have been approved for marketing.
At present, breakthroughs have been made in the development of hematologic malignancies, but the effect on major solid tumors is still not significant. Therefore, researchers have developed various methods to improve its efficacy and reduce its efficacy, such as the introduction of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as biological carriers in one study, which can enhance the targeting and activity of CAR-cells with the help of their homing effect to tumor tissues [4].
In recent years, as the research on immune cells in cancer has become more and more extensive, the literature reports on the help of immune cells in cancer prognosis have gradually accumulated, providing a scientific basis for the transformation of immune cells in a wider range of clinical applications.
Clinical Outcome 1:
Immune cells help cancer patients prevent tumor progression
A study published in the top international journal Nature Medicine [5] used tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) results in a patient with advanced metastatic breast cancer.
The 49-year-old woman had tried various other measures before receiving immune cells**, but none of them could prevent the occurrence of multiple metastases throughout the body. So, the researchers turned their hopes to immune cells**, extracting tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) with antitumor activity from patients, growing them in vitro to exponentially increase their number, and then infusing these cells back into the patient. Surprisingly, after just 22 months, the patient's tumor volume was significantly reduced. The follow-up examination 14 months later also showed that the patient's primary tumor had completely disappeared.
*From Ref. [5].Clinical Outcome 2:
Immune cells help prevent tumors in cancer patients**
Another study [6] confirmed that postoperative administration of adjuvant immune cells** and chemotherapy to cancer patients prevented tumors** to a certain extent, providing patients with survival benefits. The study included 141 patients (including lung, gastric, pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancers) who received activated T lymphocyte and/or dendritic cell vaccines and systemic adjuvant chemotherapy postoperatively. The results showed that adjuvant immune cells** could enhance the efficacy of conventional postoperative chemotherapy, prevent tumors after surgery to a certain extent, and improve the survival time of patients.
*From Ref. [6].Clinical Outcome 3:
Immune cells help cancer patients rebuild their immune systems
The immune system of cancer patients is on the verge of collapse, so it may be a major direction for cancer to rebuild the immune system by replenishing immune cells through exogenous supplementation so that it can play its role again to block cancer cells.
Foreign studies have shown that a patient with migratory breast cancer still has a tumor after surgery and postoperative standard chemotherapy, and chemotherapy brings serious ***, including severe immune cell depletion (lymphocyte count < 620 L), which means that the patient's immune ability is much lower than that of normal people. Her last hope was in immune cells**, where the researchers isolated mononuclear cells from the patient's peripheral blood, cultured them, and administered them intravenously to the patient. After experiencing immune cells** and chemotherapy, the patient not only recovered from severe immune cell depletion, but also recovered his immune system. In addition, her body's tumor markers returned to normal levels.
Source: [7] The case of a patient with an increase in the number of immune cells and a good number shows thatImmunocell** in combination with chemotherapy may be an effective option for patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer after surgery. Immune cells** at the right time can resolve chemotherapy-induced lymphocyte failure.
Clinical Outcome 4:
Immune cells can help prolong survival in cancer patients
In recent years, it has also been reported that immune cells** can help cancer patients prolong survival. In 2022, Professor Wang Wei's team from the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University made significant progress in advanced liver cancer with immune cells.
The research team used a new engineered autologous T cell (i.e., CAR-T cell) local reinfusion technology to help 7 patients with advanced liver cancer significantly control the disease progression and significantly prolong the survival time, including many elderly patients, with a maximum survival time of nearly 3 years. In 3 patients, the liver tumor was significantly smaller than before, the tumor marker alpha-fetoprotein decreased, and the quality of life of the patients was also significantly improved, and the patients felt that they had regained hope for a new life.
Summary
Cancer is one of the diseases that seriously threaten human health, and although the current means of its ** have been rapidly developed, there are still a considerable number of people who cannot get the right **. With the application of immune cells** in cancer**, more and more studies have confirmed that immune cells** can help cancer patients prevent tumor progression, prevent tumors**, and rebuild immune homeostasis ......At present, most of the research is in the preliminary stage, and larger and more in-depth studies are still needed in the future to provide higher levels of evidence, so as to promote a wider range of clinical applications and light a beacon for cancer patients on the verge of the precipice!
References: 1] Siegel RL, Giaquinto An, Jemal A cancer statistics, 2024. ca cancer j clin. 2024 jan-feb;74(1):12-49. doi: 10.3322/caac.21820. epub 2024 jan 17. pmid: 38230766.
2] zhao z, chen y, francisco nm, zhang y, wu m. the application of car-t cell therapy in hematological malignancies: advantages and challenges. acta pharm sin b. 2018 jul;8(4):539-551. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2018.03.001. epub 2018 apr 5. pmid: 30109179; pmcid: pmc6090008.
3] zhang p, zhang g, wan x. challenges and new technologies in adoptive cell therapy. j hematol oncol. 2023 aug 18;16(1):97. doi: 10.1186/s13045-023-01492-8. pmid: 37596653; pmcid: pmc10439661.
4] chan ly, dass sa, tye gj, imran sam, wan kamarul zaman ws, nordin f. car-t cells/-nk cells in cancer immunotherapy and the potential of msc to enhance its efficacy: a review. biomedicines. 2022;10(4):804. published 2022 mar 30. doi:10.3390/biomedicines10040804
5]zacharakis n, chinnasamy h, black m, xu h, lu yc, zheng z, pasetto a, langhan m, shelton t, prickett t, gartner j, jia l, trebska-mcgowan k, somerville rp, robbins pf, rosenberg sa, goff sl, feldman sa. immune recognition of somatic mutations leading to complete durable regression in metastatic breast cancer. nat med. 2018 jun;24(6):724-730. doi: 10.1038/s41591-018-0040-8. epub 2018 jun 4. pmid: 29867227; pmcid: pmc6348479.
6] takimoto r, kamigaki t, okada s, ibe h, oguma e, goto s. efficacy of adjuvant immune-cell therapy combined with systemic therapy for solid tumors. anticancer res. 2022 aug;42(8):4179-4187. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.15918. pmid: 35896218.
7] long-term, 25-year survival following surgery and immune cell therapy combined with chemotherapy for her2-positive metastatic breast cancer: