Seminar

NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy

Francisco Borrego, PhD

Innate and adaptive immunity cooperate to eliminate tumors. However, when cancer cells are not destroyed, tumor growth and immunosurveillance enter into a dynamic equilibrium until cancer cells evade the immune system, and tumors are clinically detected. Therapies designed to induce potent antitumor responses by harnessing the power of the immune system are an interesting approach to control tumor growth. Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphoid cells that have an important role in regulating the defenses against viral infections and cancer development. They are armed with an array of activating and inhibitory receptors that stimulate or diminish NK cell activity, respectively. While a large portion of cancer immunotherapies focus on targeting T cells, there has also been an interest in harnessing NK cells for therapeutic intervention. A growing number of studies elucidating NK cell biology, activating and suppressing NK cell function, and development of pharmacological and genetic methods to enhance NK cell anti-tumor immunity and the ability to expand NK cells ex vivo have set the stage for a new generation of cancer immunotherapies.