Tumor immunotherapy, as a shining pearl in the medical field of the 21st century, is leading a new era of cancer treatment. This revolutionary treatment method achieves precise targeting of tumor cells by activating and enhancing the body's own immune system, bringing unprecedented hope to countless cancer patients. This article will explore the broad field of tumor immunotherapy from multiple dimensions, including basic principles, latest developments, clinical applications, challenges, and prospects.

1、Basic principles of tumor immunotherapy

1. The relationship between the immune system and tumors: The human immune system is the first line of defense against foreign pathogens and abnormal cells. However, tumor cells successfully escape the surveillance and clearance of the immune system through a series of complex mechanisms, such as antigen regulation, expression of immunosuppressive molecules, and remodeling of the tumor microenvironment, forming what is known as "immune escape". The core goal of tumor immunotherapy is to break this immune escape mechanism, reactivate and enhance the anti-tumor function of the immune system.

2. Immune Checkpoints and Inhibitors: Immune checkpoints are a group of molecules on the surface of immune cells that maintain the homeostasis of the immune system by regulating the activation and function of immune cells. However, tumor cells also utilize these checkpoints to suppress immune cell attacks. The emergence of immune checkpoint inhibitors has opened up new avenues for tumor immunotherapy. These drugs inhibit the release of immune cells by blocking specific immune checkpoints (such as PD-1/PD-L1, CTLA-4, etc.), allowing them to re recognize and attack tumor cells.

3. Cell therapy: Cell therapy is another important component of tumor immunotherapy. It utilizes the patient's own immune cells (such as T cells, natural killer cells, etc.), which are modified or expanded in vitro, and then re injected into the patient's body to achieve specific killing of tumor cells. Among them, CAR-T cell therapy and TIL therapy are the two most representative cell therapies. CAR-T cell therapy utilizes genetic engineering technology to enable T cells to specifically recognize and kill tumor cells; TIL therapy involves isolating infiltrating lymphocytes from the patient's tumor tissue, amplifying them in vitro, and then reintroducing them into the patient's body to achieve sustained attack on tumor cells.

2、The latest progress in tumor immunotherapy

1. Discovery of new targets and drug development: With the deepening of research on tumor immune mechanisms, researchers continue to discover new therapeutic targets. These targets are not limited to traditional immune checkpoints, but also include tumor specific antigens, tumor related microenvironmental factors, and so on. The development of drugs targeting these new targets is accelerating, which is expected to provide more options for tumor immunotherapy. For example, new immune checkpoint inhibitors such as TIGIT and LAG-3 have entered the clinical trial stage and shown good therapeutic effects.

2. Innovation and optimization of cell therapy: The application of cell therapy in tumor immunotherapy is becoming increasingly widespread. In order to further improve treatment efficacy and safety, researchers are constantly exploring new cell sources, modification strategies, and fusion methods. For example, by using gene editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9 to modify CAR-T cells, they can more accurately identify and kill tumor cells; TIL therapy improves treatment efficacy and patient tolerance by optimizing cell culture conditions and infusion time.

3. Exploration and practice of combination therapy: Tumor immunotherapy usually requires the combination of other treatment methods to achieve optimal results. At present, combination therapy has become an important trend in tumor immunotherapy. For example, combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with traditional treatment methods such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can significantly improve treatment efficacy and reduce side effects; Combining different types of immune checkpoint inhibitors or cell therapies can achieve stronger immune activation and broader tumor killing.

3、Clinical application of tumor immunotherapy

1. Treatment of hematological tumors: Tumor immunotherapy has achieved significant results in the treatment of hematological tumors. For example, CAR-T cell therapy has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of various B-cell lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and has shown extremely high response rates and long-term survival rates. In addition, immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown broad application prospects in the treatment of hematological tumors such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma.

2. Treatment of solid tumors: Although the treatment of solid tumors is relatively complex and challenging, tumor immunotherapy still brings new hope. Immune checkpoint inhibitors and cell therapy have shown certain therapeutic effects in treating solid tumors such as melanoma, cancer, and cancer. Especially the breakthrough progress in TIL treatment of melanoma has opened up new avenues for solid tumor immunotherapy.

3. Personalized precision therapy: With the continuous deepening of research and technological development in tumor immunotherapy, personalized precision therapy has become an important direction in tumor immunotherapy. Through gene sequencing and immunohistochemical analysis of the patient's tumor tissue, specific antigens and immune status can be accurately identified, enabling the development of personalized treatment plans. This treatment method not only improves treatment effectiveness and safety, but also reduces unnecessary waste of medical resources.

4、Challenges and prospects of tumor immunotherapy

Despite significant progress in tumor immunotherapy, it still faces many challenges. Firstly, tumor heterogeneity leads to inconsistent treatment outcomes; Secondly, the occurrence of immune related adverse reactions (irAE) limits the scope and safety of treatment; In addition, the high cost of treatment is also one of the important factors restricting its promotion.

With the interdisciplinary integration of molecular biology, immunology, and bioinformatics, researchers will gain a deeper understanding of the interaction mechanisms between tumors and the immune system. This will help discover more new therapeutic targets, optimize existing treatment strategies, and develop more precise and effective treatment methods. With the continuous advancement of new drug development technologies such as high-throughput screening and artificial intelligence assisted drug design, the development process of new immune checkpoint inhibitors, cell therapies, and other immunotherapy drugs will accelerate. Combination therapy has become an important trend in tumor immunotherapy. In the future, researchers will continue to explore the optimal combination of different treatment methods to achieve stronger immune activation, wider tumor killing, and lower side effects. In addition, with the deepening understanding of the tumor immune microenvironment, targeted therapy targeting the tumor microenvironment will also become an important component of combination therapy.

Tumor immunotherapy, as an emerging cancer treatment method, is leading the new era of cancer treatment with its unique advantages and broad prospects. Although there are still many challenges and unknown areas to explore, with the emergence of the Beacon Optofluidic System from Redbert (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., it saves you a lot of time and greatly reduces production costs. The Beacon Optofluidic System can intervene when the cell diversity and survival rate are optimal after transfection, and it is easy to screen multiple cells and select cell lines with higher expression levels, greatly reducing subsequent production costs. We have reason to believe that tumor immunotherapy will achieve even more brilliant achievements in the future. Let's join hands and overcome cancer together!

* The above content is collected online for reference only. If the articles on this website involve copyright or other issues, please contact us promptly and we will handle them as soon as possible.