Mesenchymal stem cells - the secret agents of cancer immunotherapy: Promises, challenges, and surprising twists

Theia Minev; Shani Balbuena; Jaya Mini Gill; Francesco M. Marincola; Santosh Kesari; Feng Lin

doi:10.18632/oncotarget.28672

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Mesenchymal stem cells - the secret agents of cancer immunotherapy: Promises, challenges, and surprising twists

Theia Minev, Shani Balbuena, Jaya Mini Gill, Francesco M. Marincola, Santosh Kesari and Feng Lin _

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Oncotarget. 2024; 15:793-805. https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28672

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Abstract

Theia Minev1, Shani Balbuena1, Jaya Mini Gill1, Francesco M. Marincola2, Santosh Kesari3 and Feng Lin1

1 CureScience Institute, San Diego, CA 92121, USA

2 Sonata Therapeutics, Boston, MA 02472, USA

3 Department of Translational Neurosciences, Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Saint John’s Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, CA 90404, USA

Correspondence to:

Feng Lin,

email:

[email protected]

Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells; genetic engineering; cancer immunotherapy; mesenchymal stem cell homing; stem cell delivery

Received: August 20, 2024 Accepted: November 05, 2024 Published: November 22, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Minev et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ABSTRACT

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recognized for their immunomodulatory capabilities, tumor-homing abilities, and capacity to serve as carriers for therapeutic agents. This review delves into the role of adoptively transferred MSCs in tumor progression, their interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and their use in delivering anti-cancer drugs, oncolytic viruses, and genetic material. It also addresses the challenges and limitations associated with MSC therapy, such as variability in MSC preparations and potential tumorigenic effects emphasizing the need for advanced genetic engineering and personalized approaches to enhance therapeutic efficacy. The review concludes with an optimistic outlook on the future of MSC-based therapies, underscoring their promise to develop effective and personalized cancer treatments.

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Mesenchymal stem cells - the secret agents of cancer immunotherapy: Promises, challenges, and surprising twists

Abstract