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Molecular insight into targeting the NK cell immune response to cancer
Author(s) -
Rautela Jai,
SouzaFonsecaGuimaraes Fernando,
HediyehZadeh Soroor,
Delconte Rebecca B,
Davis Melissa J,
Huntington Nicholas D
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1111/imcb.12045
Subject(s) - immune system , cancer immunotherapy , immunotherapy , biology , immunology , cancer cell , cancer , metastasis , tumor microenvironment , natural killer cell , cancer research , cytotoxicity , in vitro , biochemistry , genetics
Natural Killer ( NK ) cells have long been considered an important part of the anti‐tumor immune response due to their potent cytolytic and cytokine‐secreting abilities. To date, a clear demonstration of the role NK cells play in human cancer is lacking, and there are still very few examples of therapies that efficiently exploit or enhance the spontaneous ability of NK cells to destroy the autologous cancer cells. Given the paradigm shift toward cancer immunotherapy over the past decade, there is a renewed push to understand how NK cell homeostasis and function are regulated in order to therapeutically harness these cells to treat cancer. This review will highlight recent advancements in our understanding of how growth factors impact on NK cell development, differentiation, survival and function with an emphasis on how these pathways may influence NK cell activity in the tumor microenvironment and control of cancer metastasis.