Natural killer (NK) cells have emerged as a promising option for adoptive cancer cell therapy due to their inherent ability to kill cancer cells without prior sensitization, their availability from diverse sources, and their safety profile. Allogeneic NK cells do not cause graft-versus-host disease and thus may be an attractive source of “off-the-shelf” cell therapy for immediate clinical use. Multiple platforms of NK cell-based therapies have been explored that aim to improve the in vivo activity and persistence of NK cells including CAR engineering, NK cell engagers, memory-like NK cells, genetic engineering targeting NK cell checkpoints, or other immunosuppressive features, among others.
The goal of this Research Topic is to highlight research innovations in the field of NK cell therapy especially focusing on advances in CAR engineering and genetic editing to improve the anti-tumor activities of NK cells. These activities encompass trafficking and homing to tumor sites, anti-tumor cytolytic activity, persistence in vivo, and overcoming the immunosuppressive elements of the tumor microenvironment.
This Research Topic welcomes manuscripts of various types including Original Research, Systematic Review, Review, Mini Review, Clinical Trials, Opinion, and Perspective articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following subtopics:
1) Advances in CAR NK cell therapy for hematologic and solid cancers include the identification of new target antigens, novel CAR constructs, and combinatorial therapies, among others.
2) Novel gene editing and engineering modalities to advance NK cell activity with a focus on overcoming immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment encompassing cellular, metabolic, biochemical, physical, and molecular immunosuppression.
3) Innovative modifications to improve NK cell safety and decrease off-target and on-target off-tumor side effects.
4) Engineering NK cells to modulate cytokine/chemokine signaling in order to improve their effector function, metabolic fitness, and persistence.
5) New technologies to enhance NK cells antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) such as NK cells engagers including BiKes and TriKes.
Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by robust and relevant validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this topic.
Topic Editors are affiliated with the following companies: MD Anderson, ASCO, SFL foundation, DKMS, Andrew Sabin foundation, CPRIT, Roche, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Innate Pharma, Illumina, 10x Genomics, CanVirex AG, IKF Klinische Krebsforschung and Treg therapeutics.
Natural killer (NK) cells have emerged as a promising option for adoptive cancer cell therapy due to their inherent ability to kill cancer cells without prior sensitization, their availability from diverse sources, and their safety profile. Allogeneic NK cells do not cause graft-versus-host disease and thus may be an attractive source of “off-the-shelf” cell therapy for immediate clinical use. Multiple platforms of NK cell-based therapies have been explored that aim to improve the in vivo activity and persistence of NK cells including CAR engineering, NK cell engagers, memory-like NK cells, genetic engineering targeting NK cell checkpoints, or other immunosuppressive features, among others.
The goal of this Research Topic is to highlight research innovations in the field of NK cell therapy especially focusing on advances in CAR engineering and genetic editing to improve the anti-tumor activities of NK cells. These activities encompass trafficking and homing to tumor sites, anti-tumor cytolytic activity, persistence in vivo, and overcoming the immunosuppressive elements of the tumor microenvironment.
This Research Topic welcomes manuscripts of various types including Original Research, Systematic Review, Review, Mini Review, Clinical Trials, Opinion, and Perspective articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following subtopics:
1) Advances in CAR NK cell therapy for hematologic and solid cancers include the identification of new target antigens, novel CAR constructs, and combinatorial therapies, among others.
2) Novel gene editing and engineering modalities to advance NK cell activity with a focus on overcoming immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment encompassing cellular, metabolic, biochemical, physical, and molecular immunosuppression.
3) Innovative modifications to improve NK cell safety and decrease off-target and on-target off-tumor side effects.
4) Engineering NK cells to modulate cytokine/chemokine signaling in order to improve their effector function, metabolic fitness, and persistence.
5) New technologies to enhance NK cells antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) such as NK cells engagers including BiKes and TriKes.
Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by robust and relevant validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this topic.
Topic Editors are affiliated with the following companies: MD Anderson, ASCO, SFL foundation, DKMS, Andrew Sabin foundation, CPRIT, Roche, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Innate Pharma, Illumina, 10x Genomics, CanVirex AG, IKF Klinische Krebsforschung and Treg therapeutics.
