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REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1482807
This article is part of the Research Topic NK Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment: Immunosuppressive Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities View all 5 articles

The Innate Defenders: A Review of Natural Killer Cell Immunotherapies in Cancer

Provisionally accepted
Pablo Álvarez-Carrasco Pablo Álvarez-Carrasco Carmen Maldonado-Bernal Carmen Maldonado-Bernal *
  • Laboratorio de Investigación en Inmunología y Proteómica, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, Mexico City, Mexico

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cancer is a condition that has been with us for centuries; however, the therapies that have been developed are often associated with significant toxicity and various side effects. Recent advances in immunology have revealed the potential of the immune system to fight cancer, leading to the emergence of immunotherapy. This review focuses on Natural Killer (NK) cells, innate immune effectors with a remarkable ability to directly kill cancer cells. We will explore the historical context of cancer treatment, the nature of NK cells, and the ways they have been developed to enhance their anti-tumor function, highlighting the limitations of conventional therapies. The therapeutic potential of NK cell-based immunotherapies will also be discussed, emphasizing their unique advantages over other immune cell-based approaches. This review highlights the promising future of NK cell therapies in the fight against cancer and their possible application to assist and improve conventional therapies developed so far.

    Keywords: natural killer cells1, Cancer2, immunotherapy3, activating signals4, inhibitory signals5, CAR-NK cells6

    Received: 18 Aug 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Álvarez-Carrasco and Maldonado-Bernal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Carmen Maldonado-Bernal, Laboratorio de Investigación en Inmunología y Proteómica, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, Mexico City, Mexico

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.