Adult stem cells from mice converted to antigen-specific T cells may lead to a simpler, more efficient way to use the body’s immune system to fight cancer. “Cancer immunotherapy is a promising method to treat cancer patients,” says Jianxsun Song, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Penn State. “Tumors grow because patients lack the kind of antigen-specific T cells needed to kill the cancer. An approach called adoptive T cell immunotherapy generates the T cells outside the body, which are then used inside the body to target cancer cells.”
