Chimeric antigen receptor-based cell therapy for treating urological tumors

Abstract

Urological tumors represent a significant global health challenge, with conventional therapies often proving insufficient to control disease progression. Recent breakthroughs in cellular immunotherapy, particularly in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell, CAR-natural killer cell, and CAR-macrophage therapies, have demonstrated remarkable potential for treating these malignancies. Ongoing research is actively refining CAR-based strategies to enhance their precision in targeting tumor-associated antigens. This review comprehensively summarizes the applications of CAR cell therapy in the following 3 major urological tumors: renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer. Furthermore, we analyzed the current advantages and limitations of these approaches and propose potential strategies for optimization focused on CAR-T cells. This review will provide future directions in this field and contribute to the development of more effective treatments for patients with urological cancer.

Keywords

Chimeric antigen receptor / Urological tumors / CAR cell therapy / Clinical application

Acknowledgments

None.

Statement of ethics

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest statement

DT is an editor-in-chief of Current Urology and confirms no involvement in any stage of this article’s review process, ensuring unbiased editorial decision making. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Funding source

This work was supported by the Special Fund for the Taishan Scholars Project (tsqn202211324) and the Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province (2021CXGC011101).

Author contributions

HT: Data acquisition, study design, and manuscript preparation;

LG: Study design, manuscript review, and editing;

WZ: Study concept and design, manuscript review, and editing;

DT: Project supervision, study concept and design, manuscript review, and editing.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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