Cancer Management and Research

Immune Effector Cells for Cancer Therapy: CAR-T and Beyond

Cellular therapies for both malignant and non-malignant disease has substantially grown in the past decade. Genetically engineered immune effector cells (IEC) have provided hope for patients with primary refractory malignancies and have received multiple regulatory approvals in B-cell lymphomas, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and myelomas. Now the investigational portfolio of such promising treatment have grown substantially to include other cellular types (natural killer cells, and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes) and other malignancies including solid tumors.

IEC were shown to be able to overcome resistance of malignant cells to treatment and have shown durable remissions in otherwise advanced malignancies with poor outcomes. The explosion of novel technologies beyond chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T) to include T-cell receptor (TCR) engineered cells as well as other non-T cell therapy platforms like natural killer cells and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes expanded the application of such curative therapies beyond B-cell lymphomas and leukemias to other disease indications.

We welcome submissions on topics including but not limited to:

• Optimization of already-approved IEC to improve outcomes and minimize toxicities
• Novel investigational cell therapy platforms and technologies in development
• Combination treatment with other agents like checkpoint inhibitors
• Expanding applications of IEC in solid tumors
• Strategies to modulate immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment,
• Expanding access to IEC through on site manufacturing,
• Methods to foster national and international collaborations to develop therapies for rare diseases
• Developing robust quality and regulatory infrastructures to ensure the safety of such promising therapies

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Guest Advisor Professor Basem William is an internationally recognized expert in lymphoma, blood and marrow transplant, cellular therapy, and drug development. He is the inaugural Clinical Director of OhioHealth Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Medical Director of Immune Effector Cell Program and Cell Therapy Laboratory, and John P. McConnell Endowed Chair for Cancer Research.

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Enter code ZBAQM when prompted during submission to ensure that your manuscript is considered for inclusion in the Collection.

­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is October 30, 2025.

Please contact commissioning editor Cassie Houtz at Cassie.Houtz@taylorandfrancis.com with any inquiries and for APC discounts.