Adoptive Immune Cell Therapy in Pediatric Solid Tumors

Abstract

While the prognosis for pediatric solid tumors has improved in recent decades, patients with refractory, metastatic, or recurrent disease continue to face poor outcomes. Innovative therapeutic approaches like adoptive cell therapy (ACT) have emerged as a promising strategy to overcome tumor cell evasion of the immune system. However, targeting solid tumors with ACT has been limited, as tumor cells employ various escape mechanisms, such as downregulating tumor antigens, creating an immunosuppressive microenvironment by secreting anti-inflammatory cytokines and expressing immune checkpoint inhibitors that can suppress immune responses. This review aims to highlight the progress and challenges of immunotherapy for pediatric patients with solid tumors, focusing on new perspectives of ACT in this patient population.