Imaging cellular immunotherapies and immune cell biomarkers: from preclinical studies to patients

Abstract

Cellular immunotherapies have emerged as a successful therapeutic approach to fight a wide range of human diseases, including cancer. However, responses are limited to few patients and tumor types. An in-depth understanding of the complexity and dynamics of cellular immunotherapeutics, including what is behind their success and failure in a patient, the role of other immune cell types and molecular biomarkers in determining a response, is now paramount. As the cellular immunotherapy arsenal expands, whole-body non-invasive molecular imaging can shed a light on their in vivo fate and contribute to the reliable assessment of treatment outcome and prediction of therapeutic response. In this review, we outline the non-invasive strategies that can be tailored toward the molecular imaging of cellular immunotherapies and immune-related components, with a focus on those that have been extensively tested preclinically and are currently under clinical development or have already entered the clinical trial phase. We also provide a critical appraisal on the current role and consolidation of molecular imaging into clinical practice.

Insights into innate immune cell evasion by Chlamydia trachomatis

“…And the detailed aspects of how C. trachomatis evades innate immune cell pursuit need to be explored in depth by further techniques. Cellular immunotherapies have been reported to be emerging in the field of cancer ( 114 ), but this has rarely been studied in pathogenic infections. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the interaction between Chlamydia and innate immune cells will provide further therapeutic interventions to combat this intractable epidemic.…”

Current and potential roles of immuno-PET/-SPECT in CAR T-cell therapy

“…Early identification of the dominant resistance mechanisms within the heterogeneous and often immunosuppressive TME or the occurrence of toxic events associated with CAR T-cell therapies is essential to ensure successful therapeutic interventions. Additionally, as novel CAR T-cell therapies are developed, an assessment of their in vivo pharmacokinetics (biodistribution and “homing” to tumors, expansion, and clearance or potential destruction) is critical for reliable determination of their efficacy and prediction of the therapeutic outcome ( 46 , 51 ). Combining the intrinsic sensitivity of PET/SPECT with the superior targeting specificity offered by mAbs ( 41 , 42 , 52 , 53 ), immunological PET/-SPECT (immuno-PET/-SPECT) can be leveraged or tailored to address the following challenges encountered with CAR T-cell therapies ( Figure 1 ).…”

Recent Advances in the Development of Non‐Invasive Imaging Probes for Cancer Immunotherapy

“…The survey of these studies has produced several review articles, which are heavily focused on their biological aspects and clinical outcomes. [36][37][38][39][40] In this review, we highlight the chemical design of probes targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis, the most heavily studied immune checkpoint pathway. [41][42][43][44][45]…”

“…The expression levels of several immune checkpoint molecules, including PD‐1 and its ligand PD‐L1, CTLA‐4, T‐cell immunoglobin mucin‐3 (TIM‐3), and lymphocyte activation gene‐3 (LAG‐3), have been actively exploited for the development of non‐invasive imaging platforms in the past several years. The survey of these studies has produced several review articles, which are heavily focused on their biological aspects and clinical outcomes [36–40] . In this review, we highlight the chemical design of probes targeting the PD‐1/PD‐L1 axis, the most heavily studied immune checkpoint pathway [41–45] …”