Targeting NK cells for anticancer immunotherapy: Clinical and preclinical approaches

Abstract

The recent success of checkpoint blockade has highlighted the potential of immunotherapy approaches for cancer treatment. Although the majority of approved immunotherapy drugs target T cell subsets, it is appreciated that other components of the immune system have important roles in tumor immune surveillance as well and thus represent promising additional targets for immunotherapy. Natural killer (NK) cells are the body's first line of defense against infected or transformed cells, as they kill target cells in an antigen-independent manner. Although several studies have clearly demonstrated the active role of NK cells in cancer immune surveillance, only few clinically approved therapies currently exist that harness their potential. Our increased understanding of NK cell biology over the past few years has renewed the interest in NK cell-based anticancer therapies, which has lead to a steady increase of NK cell-based clinical and preclinical trials. Here, the role of NK cells in cancer immune surveillance is summarized, and several novel approaches to enhance NK cell cytotoxicity against cancer are discussed.