Cellular and Immunotherapy for Pediatric Brain Tumors: A Primer
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Division of Hematology-Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1X8, Canada
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Hematology-Oncology, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada
3
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Cancer Care Manitoba, Winnipeg, MN R3E 0V9, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Curr. Oncol. 2026, 33(9), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol33090522
Submission received: 8 April 2026
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Revised: 6 August 2026
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Accepted: 30 August 2026
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Published: 31 August 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Outcomes and New Treatments in Pediatric Brain Tumors)
Simple Summary
Brain tumors are the most common solid cancer in children and the leading cause of childhood cancer deaths. While these tumors are difficult to treat, immunotherapy—a treatment that helps the body’s own immune system fight cancer—is showing great promise for young patients. The three main modalities of immunotherapy that will be discussed in this review include (a) CAR T cells: Doctors re-engineer a patient’s own immune cells in a lab to find and destroy cancer cells. (b) Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: These drugs take the “brakes” off the immune system so it can see and attack hidden cancer and (c) Oncolytic Viral Therapy: Scientists use safe, modified viruses to infect and kill cancer cells directly while waking up the immune system. In short, this review highlights how medical experts are successfully using these three innovative, immune-boosting therapies to target and destroy pediatric brain tumors more effectively.
Abstract
Brain tumors are the most common solid malignancies in children and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in this age group. Cancer immunotherapy has shown a lot of promise in the treatment of both adult and pediatric cancers. In this review, we summarize the use of immunotherapies in the treatment of pediatric brain tumors with special emphasis on CAR T cells, Immune checkpoint inhibitors and oncolytic viral therapy.
