Microfluidics and Nanofluidics for Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is an emerging treatment which boosts a person's own immune system to fight diseases such as cancer. There are three different classes of cancer immunotherapy including monoclonal antibodies/checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., anti-PD1), cell-based therapies (e.g., T cells), and cancer vaccines. With advances in biotechnology and better understanding of immuno-oncology, engineered T cells (e.g., CAR T cells) and nanoscale extracellular vesicles (EVs) are often used in cell-based immunotherapies and for personalized medicine. Microfluidics and nanofluidics platforms uniquely offer advantages as novel tools for cell/EV engineering, single cell manipulation and analysis, as well as study of tumor microenvironment. This special issue features articles/reviews on microfluidic-enabled technologies for immunotherapy, immunoengineering, and biomanufacturing of therapeutic cells and EVs.

Guest Editors: Han Wei Hou, Aram Chung, and Chwee Teck Lim