CARTs for Solid Tumors: Feasible or Infeasible?

Adoptive transfer of chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T cells (CARTs) is a novel approach to cancer therapy as CARTs combine with the antigen specificity of an antibody and the activating functions of T lymphocytes. Recent results from preclinical and clinical trials with CARTs for B-cell malignancies are exciting, although different groups selected different tumor-associated antigens, binding domains, and signal domains, which make up the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) configuration. However, there are few clinical trials with CARTs for solid tumors compared to hematologic malignancies. In this brief review, we discuss the basic principles of CAR design and clinical studies of CARTs for solid tumors.