Primary human natural killer (NK) cells recognize and subsequently eliminate virus infected cells, tumor cells, or other aberrant cells. However, cancer cells are able to develop tumor immune escape mechanisms to undermine this immune control. To overcome this obstacle, NK cells can be genetically modified to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) in order to improve specific recognition of cancer surface markers (e.g., CD19, CD20, and ErbB2). After target recognition, intracellular CAR domain signaling (CD3ζ, CD28, 4-1BB, and 2B4) leads to activation of PI3K or DNAX proteins (DAP10, DAP12) and finally to enhanced cytotoxicity, proliferation, and/or interferon γ release. This mini-review summarizes both the first preclinical trials with CAR-engineered primary human NK cells and the translational implications for "off-the-shelf immunotherapy" in cancer treatment. Signal transduction in NK cells as well as optimization of CAR signaling will be described, becoming more and more a focal point of interest in addition to redirected T cells. Finally, strategies to overcome off-target effects will be discussed in order to improve future clinical trials and to avoid attacking healthy tissues.
Keywords: cancer immunotherapy; chimeric antigen receptor; chimeric antigen receptor-associated signaling domain; intracellular chimeric antigen receptor-dependent signaling; natural killer cells.