Why stem cell-like T cells are shaping the next generation of CAR-T therapies A rare immune cell subset with the capacity to self-renew, persist long-term, and drive potent antitumor responses. Written byAndrea Corona

Why stem cell-like T cells are shaping the next generation of CAR-T therapies A rare immune cell subset with the capacity to self-renew, persist long-term, and drive potent antitumor responses. Written byAndrea Corona https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/why-stem-cell-like-t-cells-are-shaping-the-next-generation-of-car-t-therapies-17245?utm_campaign=DDN_Newsletter_Dose&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--efgamE1Gmy4uyIgUR7nBO6A5uyXHmPHWqmd3uptexQwEX84SHCBeLKx-ySiqNdpXSAlX7LT9bPRyGfKirF8qTy_KRgg&_hsmi=442044179&utm_content=442044179&utm_source=hs_email CAR-T cell therapy has transformed outcomes in certain blood cancers, but it has always carried the fundamental vulnerability that the cells that make it work do not always last. Infused T cells can expand, contract, and exhaust, in turn leaving patients who initially responded without the sustained immune pressure needed to prevent relapse. Understanding why some patients maintain durable remissions while others do not has pointed the field toward a rare immune cell subset that may hold the answer. Stem cell-like memory T cells, known as Tscm cells, occupy a unique position in the T cell differentiation hierarchy. Phenotypically resembling naive T cells, they are in fact the least differentiated of the memory T cell subpopulations, sitting at the apex of the memory hierarchy as progenitors capable of giving rise to all downstream memory and effector subsets. Their defining properties, such as self-renewal, long-term persistence, and potent antitumor activity, make them a compelling foundation for cell therapies that need to outlast the tumor.