Challenges of NK cell-based immunotherapy in the new era

Abstract

Natural killer cells (NKs) have a great potential for cancer immunotherapy because they can rapidly and directly kill transformed cells in the absence of antigen presensitization. Various cellular sources, including peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), stem cells, and NK cell lines, have been used for producing NK cells. In particular, NK cells that expanded from allogeneic PBMCs exhibit better efficacy than those that did not. However, considering the safety, activities, and reliability of the cell products, researchers must develop an optimal protocol for producing NK cells from PBMCs in the manufacture setting and clinical therapeutic regimen. In this review, the challenges on NK cell-based therapeutic approaches and clinical outcomes are discussed.

Keywords

natural killer cells / immunotherapy / adoptive transfer / genetic modification / immune checkpoint inhibitor

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81788101, 91542000, 81671558, and 31571440); the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFC1303503) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nos. XDA12020312, XDPB030301, and XDPB030303).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Fang Fang, Weihua Xiao, and Zhigang Tian declare that they have no conflict of interest. This manuscript is a review article and does not involve a research protocol requiring approval by the relevant institutional review board or ethics committee.

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