The cytotoxic T cells (in green and red) surrounding a blue cancer cell are shown in the center of the image, provided by NICHD/J. Lippincott-Schwartz, unter der Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Lizenz. Helping the body’s immunocytes to spot and combat cancer is one of the ultimate objectives in medicine. In the last twenty years, scientists have come up with immunotherapy medications that spur a person’s immune system cells to drastically reduce or remove tumors. Many of these therapies concentrate on boosting the power of cytotoxic T cells to eradicate cancer. It seems that only a limited group of individuals with tumors containing T cells have benefitted from these treatments. A survey conducted in 23 found that only about 13% of cancer patients benefited from immunotherapy. To enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy and aid more cancer patients, researchers have resorted to synthetic biology, a modern area of study that attempts to alter and improve the natural world. I, as an oncology doctor and researcher, think CAR-T cell therapy can revolutionize cancer treatment. This therapy involves creating new T cells which are meant to fight tumors, and are known as chimeric antigen receptor T cells or CAR-T cells.
