Current cancer immunotherapy using activated lymphocytes-do lymphocytes actually recognize cancer cells?

Molecular cloning of interleukin-2 (IL-2) has enabled adoptive cell therapy (ACT) to be established by using autologous activated lymphocytes. The low of regenerative medicine will promote the active development of ACT for public use, and ACTs that utilize tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), in vitro tumor-sensitized lymphocytes, natural killer T cells, and gammadelta T cells are being evaluated as advanced medical treatments in Japan. In addition, chimeric antigen receptor gene-modified T (CAR-T) cells and T cell receptor gene-modified T (TCR-T) cells are available for investigational clinical use. CART and TCR-T cells have been associated with serious adverse events as well as drastic clinical efficacies, indicating the importance of choosing the antigens to be targeted. Presently, it is accurate to state that lymphocytes do recognize cancer cells. Clinical ACT research focusing on TIL and mutated cancer antigens will be initiated for the development of personalized immunotherapy for cancer in the future.