title: Paths to stemness: building the ultimate antitumour T cell.
abstract: Stem cells are defined by the ability to self-renew and to generate differentiated progeny, qualities that are maintained by evolutionarily conserved pathways that can lead to cancer when deregulated. There is now evidence that these stem cell-like attributes and signalling pathways are also shared among subsets of mature memory T lymphocytes. We discuss how using stem cell-like T cells can overcome the limitations of current adoptive T cell therapies, including inefficient T cell engraftment, persistence and ability to mediate prolonged immune attack. Conferring stemness to antitumour T cells might unleash the full potential of cellular therapies.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. gattinol@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gattinoni
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Klebanoff
authors.forename: Nicholas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Restifo
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation