Advances in adoptive cellular immunotherapy and therapeutic breakthroughs in multiple myeloma

Abstract The basic idea of modulating the immune system to better recognize and fight tumor cells has led to the successful introduction of adoptive cellular immunotherapy (ACT). ACT-based treatment regimens, in which the patient's own immune cells are isolated and subsequently expanded (ex vivo) and reinfused, have also contributed significantly to the development of a personalized treatment strategy. Complementing this, the unprecedented advances in ACTs as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies and their derivatives such as CAR-NK, CAR-macrophages, CAR-γδT and CAR-NKT have further maximized the therapeutic outcomes. Herein, we provide a comprehensive overview of the development of ACTs in multiple myeloma (MM) and outline how they have evolved from an experimental form to a mainstay of standard clinical settings. Besides, we provide insights into cytokine-induced killer cell (CIK) therapy, an alternative form of ACT that (as CIK or CAR-CIK) has enormous potential in the clinical spectrum of MM. We also summarize the results of the major preclinical and clinical studies of adoptive cell therapy in MM and address the current challenges (such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity) that limit its complete success in the cancer landscape.