Current Challenges of CAR-T Cell Therapy in Treating Solid Tumors and Potential Strategies to Overcome Them: A Literature Review

This paper synthesizes current literature on the current challenges of CAR T-cell therapy in treating solid tumors and potential solutions. The findings in the study establish limitations and challenges, including how the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) suppresses the functionalities of T-cells and undermines treatment. Antigen heterogeneity, physical barriers, tumor accessibility, CAR T-cell persistence and exhaustion, and on-target and off-tumor toxicity remain critical limitations against the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy in treating solid tumors. Some suggested strategies against the limitations include improving CAR T-cell infiltration of the solid tumor walls, integrating inducible suicide genes to reduce toxicity, and dual targeting of solid tumors to minimize the impact of antigen heterogeneity. Understanding the limitations and available solutions for solid tumor treatment underscores the need for further research and development in the future. Insights from the current study reveal the need for future research to focus on how tumor microenvironment modulation can enhance CAR T cell activity, the development of CARs that can identify multiple tumor antigens, and the exploration of matrix-degrading agents in terms of the roles they play in overcoming physical barriers.