Cell therapies represent a rapidly emerging class of new therapeutics. They are intended and developed for the treatment of some of the most prevalent human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and for regenerative medicine. Currently, they are largely developed without precise assessment of their in vivo distribution, efficacy, or survival either clinically or preclinically. However, it would be highly beneficial for both preclinical cell therapy development and subsequent clinical use to assess these parameters in situ to enable enhancements in efficacy, applicability, and safety. Molecular imaging can be exploited to track cells non-invasively on the whole-body level and can enable monitoring for prolonged periods in a manner compatible with rapidly expanding cell types. In this review, we explain how in vivo imaging can aid the development and clinical translation of cell-based therapeutics. We describe the underlying principles governing non-invasive in vivo long-term cell tracking in the preclinical and clinical settings, including available imaging technologies, reporter genes, and imaging agents as well as pitfalls related to experimental design. Our emphasis is on adoptively transferred T cell and stem cell therapies.
Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy. 2020 Mar 20 [Epub ahead of print]
Candice Ashmore-Harris, Madeleine Iafrate, Adeel Saleem, Gilbert O Fruhwirth
Imaging Therapy and Cancer Group, Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London SE1 7EH, UK; Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, School of Basic and Medical Biosciences, King's College London, London SE1 9RT, UK., Imaging Therapy and Cancer Group, Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London SE1 7EH, UK., Imaging Therapy and Cancer Group, Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London SE1 7EH, UK; Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London SE1 9RT, UK; Department of Haematological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK., Imaging Therapy and Cancer Group, Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London SE1 7EH, UK. Electronic address: .