评论“一种用于癌症免疫治疗的可注射水凝胶以调节 T 细胞”

Recent clinical successes of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies represents a milestone as a novel anti-tumor strategy beyond surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy in cancer therapy. T cells, especially CD8 + T cells, play crucial roles in anti-tumor immune responses.

However, most T cells in the tumor microenvironment express high inhibitory receptors, such as PD-1, TIM-3, and LAG-3, and decreased T cell response in response to stimuli. Applying ICB therapies, such as anti-PD-1, promotes T cell activation and increases cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response, leading to the enhanced anti-tumor immune response in patients with malignancy.

Therefore, studies aimed to define novel targets that can restrain T cell terminal exhaustion are urgently required to provide new strategies for patients resistant to immunotherapy. The previously published study by Zhang et al. (An Injectable Hydrogel to Modulate T Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy, https://doi. org/10. 1002/smll. 202202663) introduces a new type of injectable hydrogel that can regulate the function of T cells, thereby improving their effectiveness in cancer immunotherapy.

However, it remains to be discussed for its conclusion, as the flow cell assay of this article may not be proper.