NK Cell-Based Immunotherapy in Cancer Metastasis

Overview

Journal Cancers (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Oncology

Date 2019 Jan 2

PMID 30597841

Citations 53

Authors

Seila Lorenzo-Herrero

Alejandro Lopez-Soto

Christian Sordo-Bahamonde

Ana P Gonzalez-Rodriguez

Massimo Vitale

Segundo Gonzalez

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Metastasis represents the leading cause of cancer-related death mainly owing to the limited efficacy of current anticancer therapies on advanced malignancies. Although immunotherapy is rendering promising results in the treatment of cancer, many adverse events and factors hampering therapeutic efficacy, especially in solid tumors and metastases, still need to be solved. Moreover, immunotherapeutic strategies have mainly focused on modulating the activity of T cells, while Natural Killer (NK) cells have only recently been taken into consideration. NK cells represent an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy owing to their innate capacity to eliminate malignant tumors in a non-Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) and non-tumor antigen-restricted manner. In this review, we analyze the mechanisms and efficacy of NK cells in the control of metastasis and we detail the immunosubversive strategies developed by metastatic cells to evade NK cell-mediated immunosurveillance. We also share current and cutting-edge clinical approaches aimed at unleashing the full anti-metastatic potential of NK cells, including the adoptive transfer of NK cells, boosting of NK cell activity, redirecting NK cell activity against metastatic cells and the release of evasion mechanisms dampening NK cell immunosurveillance.

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