Tracking the elusive lymphocyte: methods of detection during adoptive immunotherapy

Adoptive immunotherapy is an attractive cancer treatment modality due to its capacity to target primary and metastatic lesions with large numbers of tumor-reactive, cytotoxic lymphocytes. The inability of fully armed lymphocytes to traffic into sites of tumor has been proposed as a causal factor for the minimal success observed clinically with this type of immunotherapy. The study of lymphocyte trafficking during adoptive immunotherapy has been limited, despite the existence of a variety of tracking methods. In murine models that simulate adoptive immunotherapy, the use of congenic mice and cell tracking dyes can be used to elucidate lymphocyte trafficking behavior. The continued development of novel technologies will further contribute to this expanding area of research.