Technical advances in NK cell-based cellular immunotherapy

Fang Fang; Wei Wang; Minhua Chen; Zhigang Tian; Weihua Xiao

doi:10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2019.0187

Technical advances in NK cell-based cellular immunotherapy

Cancer Biol Med. 2019 Nov;16(4):647-654. doi: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2019.0187.

Authors

Fang Fang^{1

2

3

4}, Wei Wang^{2

3

4}, Minhua Chen^{2

3

4}, Zhigang Tian^{1

2

3

4}, Weihua Xiao^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology of The First Affiliated Hospital, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
² Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
³ Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
⁴ Engineering Technology Research Center of Biotechnology Drugs Anhui, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.

PMID: 31908885
PMCID: PMC6936239
DOI: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2019.0187

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells represent a promising future for tumor immunotherapy because of their unique biological functions and characteristics. This review focuses on technical advances in NK cell-based cellular immunotherapy and summarizes the developments of recent years in cell sources, genetic modification, manufacturing systems, clinical programs, and outcomes. Future prospects and challenges in NK cell immunotherapy are also discussed, including off-the-shelf NK cell exploitation, automatic and closed manufacturing systems, cryopreservation, and therapies involving regulatory checkpoints.

Keywords: Natural killer cell; adoptive cell transfer; genetic modification; immunotherapy.