The 5th Tianjin International Lymphoma Conference was successfully held from September 6 to 8, 2024. The conference featured 12 specialized sessions, including immunotherapy, basic translational research, and new drug development, providing a platform for international academic exchange and collaboration. During the event, Hematology Frontier invited Dr. Xiubao Ren from Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital to share insights on the progress of clinical trials in reverse immune editing therapy and its future application prospects in cancer treatment.

Hematology Frontier: Your lecture was titled “New Strategies in Tumor Immunotherapy: Reverse Immune Editing Therapy.” Could you elaborate on the concept of “reverse” in reverse immune editing therapy? How does this approach differ from traditional immunotherapy in your research?

Dr. Xiubao Ren: When discussing reverse immune editing therapy, the term “reverse” can be compared to the process of untying a knot. Imagine a rope tied with multiple complex knots formed step by step from the first knot to the nth knot. To untangle the rope, you need to work backwards, starting with the last knot (the nth), and then gradually moving back through the n-1th knot until you reach the first one, untying each in reverse order.

Applying this logic to the complex process of tumor immune editing, we can understand that tumor immune editing is a highly intricate, multi-step biological process, far exceeding our current understanding. Although we do not yet fully grasp every detail of this process, the medical community is striving to deepen its knowledge step by step. Based on this, we have proposed the reverse immune editing therapy strategy to improve tumor immune escape.

Hematology Frontier: In your team’s research, how effective has reverse immune editing therapy been in clinical trials? Has it shown significant efficacy for specific types of solid tumors?

Dr. Xiubao Ren: Given the complexity and challenges of immune escape mechanisms in solid tumors, reverse immune editing therapy offers a potential solution. As an emerging strategy and concept, reverse immune editing therapy is still in the early stages of exploration. Mechanistically, there is no significant difference between reverse immune editing and traditional immunotherapy. The core of reverse immune editing lies in applying a comprehensive strategy to various stages of the immune editing process to achieve more precise and effective treatment.

Currently, our team is conducting clinical trials to preliminarily evaluate and validate the effectiveness of reverse immune editing therapy. Initial results suggest that implementing individualized immune editing treatment plans, tailored to each patient’s specific immune escape mechanisms, may significantly enhance overall treatment outcomes. However, fully validating and optimizing this innovative approach will require extensive and in-depth clinical practice by the broader medical community to ultimately improve cancer treatment and benefit more patients.

Hematology Frontier: We understand you were recently elected as Vice President of the International Society for Cellular Cancer Therapy (ISCC). As Vice President, how do you view the advantages of non-genetic immune cell therapies compared to gene-edited cell therapies? What are the future research directions in the field of immune cell therapy?

Dr. Xiubao Ren: Currently, immune cell therapies for cancer are mainly divided into two categories: gene-edited cell therapies, such as CAR-T and CAR-NK, and non-gene-edited cell therapies, which include NK and CIK cells. These non-genetic therapies have accumulated considerable experience in clinical trials for solid tumors. While gene-edited cell therapies have shown some success in hematologic malignancies, challenges such as immune escape remain in the treatment of solid tumors, despite their promising potential.

Both gene-edited and non-gene-edited cell therapies have their unique characteristics and applicable scenarios. One of the key future research directions is identifying which type of cell therapy is best suited for which type of patient. The advantage of non-gene-edited cell therapies lies in their relatively simple preparation process, cost-effectiveness, and greater accessibility for patients. On the other hand, gene-edited cell therapies have strong cytotoxic potential. However, in solid tumor treatment, where the targets are more complex and diverse, a single-target therapy strategy may not be sufficient to meet the demands. With the rapid advancement of gene-editing technologies, we are hopeful that breakthrough progress will be made in gene-edited therapies for solid tumors.

Both gene-edited and non-gene-edited cell therapies are expected to play an important role in comprehensive cancer treatment strategies, working in tandem with other treatment modalities to advance the field of cancer therapy.

Dr. Xiubao Ren Chief Physician, Ph.D. Supervisor Director of the Department of Biological Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital

Positions held:

• Chairperson, Oncology Branch, Tianjin Medical Association
• Vice Chairperson, Clinical Application Committee of Biotechnology, China Medical Biotechnology Association
• Vice Chairperson, Tumor Biotherapy Committee, China Anti-Cancer Association
• Vice Chairperson, Biotherapy Committee, China Research Hospital Association
• Vice President, International Society for Cellular Cancer Therapy (ISCC)
• Chairperson, Tumor Immunotherapy Committee, Tianjin Anti-Cancer Association
• Standing Committee Member, Tumor Immunotherapy Expert Committee, CSCO
• Standing Committee Member, Malignant Melanoma Expert Committee, CSCO
• Leading Talent, National “Ten Thousand Talents Program”
• Leading Talent, National “Millions of Talents Project”
• Recipient of the State Council Special Government Allowance

Professor Ren has served as editor-in-chief of Cellular Immunotherapy for Solid Tumors and has published over 100 SCI papers (as corresponding author) in journals such as Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy and Clinical Cancer Research.