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Fig. 3 | Experimental Hematology & Oncology

Fig. 3

From: Current advances and challenges in CAR T-Cell therapy for solid tumors: tumor-associated antigens and the tumor microenvironment

Fig. 3

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment hinders CAR T-cell therapy for solid tumors. The solid tumor microenvironment is a complex and evolving entity containing immune-suppressing cells such as Tregs, MDSCs, TAMs and TANs; there are also CAFs, endothelial cells and extracellular matrix. The immunosuppressive ligands PD-L1, ARG-1, ARG-2, CTLA-4, and IDO secreted by those cells in the TME may all quell the intrinsic antitumor immune response, as well as the CAR T-cell response that helps tumor cells evade immune cell attack. Targeting those TMAs not only leads to a direct attack on the tumor cells but also modulates the tumor microenvironment, rendering it immunocompetent and tumor-hostile. Tregs regulatory T cells; TAM tumor-associated macrophages; TAN tumor-associated neutrophils; Anti-Tregs anti-regulatory T cells; MDSC myeloid-derived suppressor cells; TEff effector T cells; CAF cancer-associated fibroblasts. PD-L1 programmed cell death 1 ligand 1; IDO indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase; ARG-1 arginase 1; ARG2 arginase 2; CTLA-4 cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4

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