In vivo CART cell imaging: Paving the way for success in CART cell therapy

Reona Sakemura; Ismail Can; Elizabeth L Siegler; Saad S Kenderian

doi:10.1016/j.omto.2021.03.003

In vivo CART cell imaging: Paving the way for success in CART cell therapy

Mol Ther Oncolytics. 2021 Mar 5:20:625-633. doi: 10.1016/j.omto.2021.03.003. eCollection 2021 Mar 26.

Authors

Reona Sakemura^{1

2}, Ismail Can^{1

3}, Elizabeth L Siegler^{1

2}, Saad S Kenderian^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ T Cell Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
² Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
³ Department of Molecular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
⁴ Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CART) cells are a promising immunotherapy that has induced dramatic anti-tumor responses in certain B cell malignancies. However, CART cell expansion and trafficking are often insufficient to yield long-term remissions, and serious toxicities can arise after CART cell administration. Visualizing CART cell expansion and trafficking in patients can detect an inadequate CART cell response or serve as an early warning for toxicity development, allowing CART cell treatment to be tailored accordingly to maximize therapeutic benefits. To this end, various imaging platforms are being developed to track CART cells in vivo, including nonspecific strategies to image activated T cells and reporter systems to specifically detect engineered T cells. Many of these platforms are clinically applicable and hold promise to provide valuable information and guide improved CART cell treatment.

Publication types

Review