Adoptive cell therapy,
i.e., the extraction, manipulation, and
administration of ex vivo generated autologous T cells to patients,
is an emerging alternative to regular procedures in cancer treatment.
Nevertheless, these personalized treatments require laborious and
expensive laboratory procedures that should be alleviated to enable
their incorporation into the clinics. With the objective to improve
the ex vivo expansion of large amount of specific T cells, we propose
the use of three-dimensional (3D) structures during their activation
with artificial antigen-presenting cells, thus resembling the natural
environment of the secondary lymphoid organs. Thus, the activation,
proliferation, and differentiation of T cells have been analyzed when
cultured in the presence of two 3D systems, Matrigel and a 3D polystyrene
scaffold, showing an increase in cell proliferation compared to standard
suspension systems.