Despite having revolutionized cancer treatment, immunotherapy still demonstrates a wide range of efficacy across patients and tumor types. As researchers seek to improve immuno-oncology effectiveness, they're increasingly turning to humanized immune system (HIS) mice that express human cytokines and support a variety of human immune cell types. In this article in Drug Discovery World, Dr. Courtney Ferrebee, a Taconic Biosciences field applications scientist, explores the vital role that HIS mouse models play in investigating cell-based immunotherapies. Dr. Ferrebee reviews the use of hIL-2 transgenic mice in studies of adoptive cell transfer, CAR-T, and TCR (T-cell receptor) therapies, the use of hIL-15 mice to evaluate CAR-NK and NK cell therapies, and future immuno-oncology applications for HIS mice:
"In vivo models, particularly HIS models, allow preliminary investigation of cell-based therapeutic strategies--often in combination with other therapeutic modalities--to overcome the limitations and challenges of T cell-based immuno-oncology treatments and identify effective options for clinical investigation."
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