Improving Tumor Retention of Effector Cells in Adoptive Cell Transfer Therapies by Magnetic Targeting

Adoptive cell transfer therapy is a promising anti-tumor immunotherapy in which effector immune cells are transferred to patients to treat tumors. However, one of its main limitations is the inefficient trafficking of inoculated effector cells to the tumor site and the small percentage of effector cells that remain activated when reaching the tumor. Multiple strategies have been attempted to improve the entry of effector cells into the tumor environment, often based on tumor types. It would be, however, interesting to develop a more general approach, to improve and facilitate the migration of specific activated effector lymphoid cells to any tumor type. We and others have recently demonstrated the potential for adoptive cell transfer therapy of the combined use of magnetic nanoparticle-loaded lymphoid effector cells together with the application of an external magnetic field to promote the accumulation and retention of lymphoid cells in specific body locations. The aim of this review is to summarize and highlight the recent findings in the field of magnetic accumulation and retention of effector cells in tumors after adoptive transfer, and to discuss the possibility of using this approach for tumor targeting with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells.