Human pluripotent stem cell-derived innate and adaptive immune cells for cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

Allogeneic cell-based therapies hold great promise for cancer immunotherapy but face challenges like scalability, immune rejection, graft-versus-host disease, and toxicities. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), offer a scalable and adaptable platform to address these limitations. hPSCs provide an inexhaustible source of immune cells that can be genetically modified at the single-cell level to enhance anti-tumor activity and reduce immunogenicity. Recent advancements in generating iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, and macrophages are opening the door to safer and more effective immunotherapies. This review examines the progress, challenges, and future directions in utilizing hPSC-derived immune cells to enhance cancer treatment and overcome barriers in allogeneic therapy.

Keywords: CAR-NK cells; CAR-T cells; CAR-macrophages; NK cells; T cells; allogeneic immune cells; cancer immunotherapy; hematopoiesis; human pluripotent stem cells; hypoimmune cells; innate immune cells; macrophages; off-the-shelf.