Microfluidic platforms for preclinical evaluation of immunotherapies

Immunotherapy is a revolutionary treatment strategy that leverages the immune system to manage disease. This therapeutic tactic has garnered substantial attention recently because of its potency and specificity, though preclinical testing of immunomodulation is a significant challenge. Immune response often depends on several cellular and environmental factors that can be difficult to study in vivo and the conditions in which immunotherapy is effective can be unique to a species or individual. In this review we demonstrate the utility of microfluidic platforms for preclinical evaluation of immunotherapies, highlighting tools which have been or could be used to test therapies that leverage specific aspects of the immune system. The models discussed here enable precise control of cellular, chemical, and physical conditions for evaluating pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of existing and emergent immunotherapies. Microfluidic technologies have already enabled several discoveries regarding the delivery, efficacy, and safety of immunotherapies and these platforms can be used in the future to drive the generation of novel and powerful immunotherapies more efficiently.