Engineered in vitro tumor models for cell-based immunotherapy.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Cell-based immunotherapies are a cornerstone of cancer treatment, particularly effective against hematological malignancies.
• Solid tumor treatment remains a challenge, with current cell-based immunotherapies underperforming clinically despite promising preclinical data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review cell-based immunotherapies and the tumor microenvironment's inhibitory mechanisms.
• To highlight the limitations of current preclinical models in assessing immunotherapy efficacy for solid tumors.
• To discuss the role of engineered tumor models in advancing cell-based cancer immunotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on cell-based immunotherapies and tumor microenvironments.
• Analysis of tissue engineering and organ-on-a-chip models for recapitulating tumor microenvironments.
• Focus on engineered models for tumor immunology and immunotherapy applications.

Main Results:

• Current preclinical models inadequately represent the complex tumor microenvironment, hindering immunotherapy development.
• Engineered tumor models, including organ-on-a-chip systems, offer more physiologically relevant platforms.
• These advanced models incorporate cellular phenotypes, tissue architecture, and physical parameters for better efficacy assessment.

Conclusions:

• Engineered tumor models are crucial for overcoming the limitations of current preclinical assessments in cancer immunotherapy.
• Faithful recapitulation of the tumor microenvironment in engineered models can accelerate the discovery and clinical translation of effective immunotherapies.
• Future development of these models is key to improving cell-based immunotherapy outcomes for solid tumors.