CAR-NK cell in cancer immunotherapy; A promising frontier

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) for tumor immunotherapy; recent progress

Due to the overexpression or amplification of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) with poor prognosis in a myriad of human tumors, recent studies have focused on HER2-targeted therapies. Deregulation in HER2 signaling pathways is accompanied by sustained tumor cells growth concomitant with their migration and also tumor angiogenesis and metastasis by stimulation of proliferation of a network of blood vessels. A large number of studies have provided clear evidence that the emerging HER2-directed treatments could be the outcome of patients suffering from HER2 positive breast and also gastric/gastroesophageal cancers. Thanks to its great anti-tumor competence, immunotherapy using HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) expressing immune cell has recently attracted increasing attention. Human T cells and also natural killer (NK) cells can largely be found in the tumor microenvironment, mainly contributing to the tumor immune surveillance. Such properties make them perfect candidate for genetically modification to express constructed CARs. Herein, we will describe the potential targets of the HER2 signaling in tumor cells to clarify HER2-mediated tumorigenesis and also discuss recent findings respecting the HER2-specific CAR-expressing immune cells (CAR T and CAR NK cell) for the treatment of HER2-expressing tumors.

Combination of Nanomaterials in Cell-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Cancer Treatment

Cell-based drug delivery systems have shown tremendous advantages in cancer treatment due to their distinctive properties. For instance, delivery of therapeutics using tumor-tropic cells like neutrophils, lymphocytes and mesenchymal stem cells can achieve specific tumor targeting due to the "Trojan Horse" effect. Other circulatory cells like erythrocytes and platelets can greatly improve the circulation time of nanoparticles due to their innate long circulation property. Adipocytes, especially cancer-associated adipocytes, play key roles in tumor development and metabolism, therefore, adipocytes are regarded as promising bio-derived nanoplatforms for anticancer targeted drug delivery. Nanomaterials are important participants in cell-based drug delivery because of their unique physicochemical characteristics. Therefore, the integration of various nanomaterials with different cell types will endow the constructed delivery systems with many attractive properties due to the merits of both. In this review, a number of strategies based on nanomaterial-involved cell-mediated drug delivery systems for cancer treatment will be summarized. This review discusses how nanomaterials can be a benefit to cell-based therapies and how cell-derived carriers overcome the limitations of nanomaterials, which highlights recent advancements and specific biomedical applications based on nanomaterial-mediated, cell-based drug delivery systems.

CAR-NK cell in cancer immunotherapy; A promising frontier

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have a unique facet of synthetic biology and offer a paradigm shift in personalized medicine as they can use and redirect the patient's immune cells to attack cancer cells. CAR‐natural killer (NK) cells combine the targeted specificity of antigens with the subsequent intracellular signaling ability of the receptors to increase their anti‐cancer functions. Importantly, CAR‐NK cells can be utilized as universal cell‐based therapy without requiring human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching or earlier contact with tumor‐associated antigens (TAAs). Indeed, CAR‐NK cells can be adapted to recognize various antigens, hold higher proliferation capacity, and in vivo persistence, show improved infiltration into the tumors, and the ability to overcome the resistant tumor microenvironment leading to sustained cytotoxicity against tumors. Accumulating evidence from recent in vivo studies rendering CAR‐NK cell anti‐cancer competencies renewed the attention in the context of cancer immunotherapy, as these redirected effector cells can be used in the development of the “off‐the‐shelf” anti‐cancer immunotherapeutic products. In the current review, we focus on the therapeutic efficacy of CAR‐NK cell therapies for treating various human malignancies, including hematological malignancies and solid tumors, and will discuss the recent findings in this regard, with a special focus on animal studies.