CAR-T Meeting 2022 | Challenges in CAR-T therapy for solid tumors

John Maher, BA, MBBCh, BAO, MRCPI, MRCP, MSc, FRCPath, King’s College London, London, UK, comments on the key obstacles to developing chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies for solid tumors. To begin with, it is difficult to identify a tumor-specific antigen that can be safely targeted with CAR-Ts. In addition, it is necessary to find strategies to successfully direct CAR-Ts to tumor tissue. Another major challenge is the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment which deactivates T-cells and dampens immune responses against the tumor. This interview took place at the EBMT-EHA 4th European CAR T-cell Meeting which was held virtually in 2022.