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Review
. 2022 Jul 27:13:954804.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.954804. eCollection 2022.

Natural killer cells: the next wave in cancer immunotherapy

Xin Chen  1 , Lei Jiang  1 , Xuesong Liu  1
Affiliations
Review

Natural killer cells: the next wave in cancer immunotherapy

Xin Chen et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Immunotherapies focusing on rejuvenating T cell activities, like PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 blockade, have unprecedentedly revolutionized the landscape of cancer treatment. Yet a previously underexplored component of the immune system - natural killer (NK) cell, is coming to the forefront of immunotherapeutic attempts. In this review, we discuss the contributions of NK cells in the success of current immunotherapies, provide an overview of the current preclinical and clinical strategies at harnessing NK cells for cancer treatment, and highlight that NK cell-mediated therapies emerge as a major target in the next wave of cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords: NK cell therapy; cancer; iPSC-NK; immune checkpoint; immunotherapy; natural killer (NK) cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

XC is a Senior Principal Investigator at the company BeiGene (Beijing) Co., Ltd. LJ is a Senior Scientist at the company BeiGene (Beijing) Co., Ltd. XL is the Vice President, Head of Biology at the company BeiGene (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

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