Systemic treatment options for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have expanded considerably in recent years, and both tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors, alone or in combination, have entered the clinical arena. Adoptive cell immunotherapies have recently revolutionized the treatment of cancer and hold the promise to further advance the treatment of RCC.
In this review, we summarize the latest preclinical and clinical development in the field of adoptive cell immunotherapy for the treatment of RCC, focusing on lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells, cytokine induced killer (CIK) cells, tumor-infiltrating T cells (TILs), TCR-engineered T cells, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and dendritic cell vaccination strategies. Perspectives on emerging cellular products including CAR NK cells, CAR macrophages as well as γδ T cells are also included.
So far, areas of greater therapeutic success of adoptive cell therapies include the adjuvant administration of CIK cells and the transfer of anti-CD70 CAR T cells in patients with metastatic RCC. Bench to bedside and back research will be needed to overcome current limitations of adoptive cell therapies in RCC, primarily aiming at improving the safety of immune cell products, optimizing their antitumor activity and generating off-the-shelf products ready for clinical use.
Expert opinion on biological therapy. 2024 Nov 01 [Epub ahead of print]
Nada Chaoul, Eleonora Lauricella, Andrea Giglio, Gabriella D'Angelo, Carlo Ganini, Mauro Cives, Camillo Porta
Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.