Ex vivo manipulation of cell subsets for cell therapies

Large-scale cell separation and ex vivo expansion technologies will form the basis for development of new cellular products for the treatment of cancer and fatal viral diseases. The cell subsets that are likely to play a significant role in cellular therapy include hematopoietic stem cells, platelet and granulocyte precursors, cytotoxic lymphocytes, and genetically modified hematopoietic or lymphoid precursors. Cell enrichment techniques are required to eliminate tumor cells from autologous stem cell grafts and to reduce the size of culture systems required for expansion or gene transfection. The consumption of expensive culture components such as cytokines and serum may be reduced by the use of perfusion bioreactor devices. Methods that have been developed for the production of cell subsets for cellular therapy are reviewed.