Cell therapy, or cellular therapy, is the introduction or transplantation of healthy cells into a person's body to replace missing or diseased cells. Cell therapies include several approaches that require manipulating donor tissue, both autologous and allogeneic, to obtain desired cells and tissues. These cells and tissues, or cell therapy products, are used to treat diseases, ranging from wound repair to cancer.
Cell therapies emerged in the late 1980s and have grown with the expansion and activation of LAK and TIL adult stem cells (T cells) isolated and expanded from peripheral blood, bone marrow, cord blood, and dermal/keratinocyte grafts to treat burn patients. Today, cell therapy approaches are moving away from stand-alone cell delivery to co-therapies with vaccines or mAbs.