The development of new oncology treatments has focused on strategies that alter immune responses. Many of these novel therapies use antibodies that bind to receptors on different immune cell subsets and either activate or suppress their functions depending on the immune response being targeted. Antibody-drug conjugates are also becoming more widely used for improved targeting of drugs to specific cell subsets. Flow cytometry-based receptor occupancy (RO) assays are a valuable tool for quantifying cell surface expression of target molecules and are used to generate pharmacodynamic (PD) data, which can be used with pharmacokinetic (PK) data to guide dosing strategies. Consider these different types of receptor occupancy assays as you develop the most useful tools for screening therapeutic molecules.

Clinical flow cytometry is now a standard tool used by clinical researchers in numerous fields, especially immuno-oncology. Consider these “Do’s & Don’ts” of clinical flow cytometry as you decide to use this tool for clinical research.