Emerging cancer therapies: CAR-T, PROTACs, and next-generation targeting

• Cancer research is rapidly shifting toward therapies that more precisely target tumor biology, immune evasion, and metabolic dependencies.
• Major areas of innovation include CAR-T cell therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, gene and RNA-based approaches, metabolic depletion strategies, and PROTAC-driven protein degradation.
• Despite strong scientific momentum, many of these therapies face real-world challenges related to toxicity, delivery, resistance, cost, and equitable access.

Cancer treatment has traditionally relied on surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation—approaches that have saved many lives but often lack tumor specificity and can cause significant side effects. This comprehensive review summarizes how newer therapeutic strategies are being developed to address these limitations by focusing on the underlying biology of cancer cells and their interactions with the immune system.

This is educational information, not medical advice. The review emphasizes that while many of these emerging therapies show promise in preclinical studies and early clinical trials, most are still under active investigation and are not yet broadly applicable to all patients or cancer types.