Understanding NK Cell Biology For Harnessing NK Cell Therapies: Targeting Cancer and Beyond

Gene-engineered immune cell therapies have partially transformed cancer treatment, as exemplified by the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells in certain hematologic malignancies. However, there are several limitations that need to be addressed to target more cancer types. 

Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of innate immune cells that represent a unique biology in cancer immune surveillance. In particular, NK cells obtained from heathy donors can serve as a source for genetically engineered immune cell therapies. Therefore, NK-based therapies, including NK cells, CAR-NK cells, and antibodies that induce antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of NK cells, have emerged. 

With recent advances in genetic engineering and cell biology techniques, NK cell-based therapies have become promising approaches for a wide range of cancers, viral infections, and senescence. This review provides a brief overview of NK cell characteristics and summarizes diseases that could benefit from NK-based therapies. In addition, we discuss recent preclinical and clinical investigations on the use of adoptive NK cell transfer and agents that can modulate NK cell activity.

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[1] Shin, E., Bak, S. H., Park, T., Kim, J. W., Yoon, S. R., Jung, H., & Noh, J. Y. (2023). Understanding NK cell biology for harnessing NK cell therapies: targeting cancer and beyond. Frontiers in Immunology, 14, 1192907. 

[2] Chu, J., Gao, F., Yan, M., Zhao, S., Yan, Z., Shi, B., & Liu, Y. (2022). Natural killer cells: a promising immunotherapy for cancer. Journal of translational medicine, 20(1), 240.