Using genetic engineering, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) physician-scientist Christopher Klebanoff, MD, has led a team of researchers to create a “cloak” that protects cancer-fighting T white blood cells, such as chimeric antigen receptor T cells, from self-destructing. During cancer immunotherapy, immune cells often undergo a form of cellular suicide, termed apoptosis, which can limit the therapy’s effectiveness. The use of “genetic cloaking” prevents immune cell apoptosis, enhancing the effectiveness of cellular immunotherapies for liquid and solid cancers in mouse models. This new technique is also effective in protecting human cancer-fighting immune cells. These findings lay the groundwork for a potentially universal gene-engineering strategy to safely increase the potency of cellular immunotherapies for a broad range of cancers.