Bone marrow and blood transplantation is currently the most commonly used modality of cell therapy for paediatric cancer. However, transplantation may not be possible because of lack of donor and may not always be successful because of various adverse events. In recent years, other cell based therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells and NK cells are increasingly used. These cells do not cause graft-vs-host disease, have non–cross-resistant mechanisms of action, and have non-overlapping toxicities with standard cancer treatments. These therapeutic cells may be used alone, or in combination with other immunotherapy approaches such as antibody treatment or cytokine therapy. In this lecture, we will review the contribution of paediatric cellular and immunotherapy programme to the treatment of childhood illnesses. Potential barriers will be addressed, including toxicity of therapy, complexity in cell manufacturing, cost, and lack of long-term efficacy. Novel immune-oncology approaches will be discussed. Promising data from recent clinical trials will be reviewed.
Co-location with:
