Challenges and future perspectives of T cell immunotherapy in cancer

•A cancer evades the host immune response to ensure its development and survival.•Concerted actions of various immune cells determine an anti-tumour immune response.•Immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment presents a challenge for T cell response.•Hurdles that the adoptive T cell immunotherapy against cancer faces are summarized.•Checkpoint conditions for effective eradication of large tumour burden are discussed.

Since the formulation of the tumour immunosurveillance theory, considerable focus has been on enhancing the effectiveness of host antitumour immunity, particularly with respect to T cells. A cancer evades or alters the host immune response by various ways to ensure its development and survival. These include modifications of the immune cell metabolism and T cell signalling. An inhibitory cytokine milieu in the tumour microenvironment also leads to immune suppression and tumour progression within a host. This review traces the development in the field and attempts to summarize the hurdles that the approach of adoptive T cell immunotherapy against cancer faces, and discusses the conditions that must be improved to allow effective eradication of cancer.