AUTHOR=Heipertz Erica L. , Zynda Evan R. , Stav-Noraas Tor Espen , Hungler Andrew D. , Boucher Shayne E. , Kaur Navjot , Vemuri Mohan C. 

TITLE=Current Perspectives on “Off-The-Shelf” Allogeneic NK and CAR-NK Cell Therapies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.732135

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.732135

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Natural killer cells (NK cells) are the first line of the innate immune defense system, primarily located in peripheral circulation and lymphoid tissues. They kill virally infected and malignant cells through a balancing play of inhibitory and stimulatory receptors. In pre-clinical investigational studies, NK cells show promising anti-tumor effects and are used in adoptive transfer of activated and expanded cells, <italic>ex-vivo</italic>. NK cells express co-stimulatory molecules that are attractive targets for the immunotherapy of cancers. Recent clinical trials are investigating the use of CAR-NK for different cancers to determine the efficiency. Herein, we review NK cell therapy approaches (NK cell preparation from tissue sources, ways of expansion <italic>ex-vivo</italic> for “off-the-shelf” allogeneic cell-doses for therapies, and how different vector delivery systems are used to engineer NK cells with CARs) for cancer immunotherapy.</p>