Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jan 4:12:1077436.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1077436. eCollection 2022.

Current state of NK cell-mediated immunotherapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Zong-Han Wang  1 , Wei Li  2 , Hao Dong  3 , Fujun Han  1
Affiliations
Review

Current state of NK cell-mediated immunotherapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Zong-Han Wang et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has become one of the most common hematological diseases in western countries, with an annual incidence of 42/100,000. Conventional chemotherapy and targeted therapeutic drugs showed limitations in prognosis or in efficiency in high-risk patients. Immunotherapy represented is one of the most effective therapeutic approaches with the potential of better effect and prognosis. Natural killer (NK) cells are good options for immunotherapy as they can effectively mediate anti-tumor activity of immune system by expressing activating and inhibiting receptors and recognizing specific ligands on various tumor cells. NK cells are critical in the immunotherapy of CLL by enhancing self-mediated antibody-dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC), allogeneic NK cell therapy and chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer (CAR-NK) cell therapy. In this article, we reviewed the features, working mechanisms, and receptors of NK cells, and the available evidence of the advantages and disadvantages of NK cell-based immunotherapies, and put forward future study directions in this field.

Keywords: CLL; NK cells; anti-tumor activity; immunotherapy; receptors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The mechanism of NCR protein of NK cell.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The mechanism of NKG2D, other important activating receptors, and the inhibitory receptors in NK cell.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) The mechanism of NK cell mediated cytotoxicity by releasing cytotoxic particles. (B, C) The mechanism of NK cell mediated cytotoxicity binding of NK cells to death receptors.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mechanism of tumor escape from NK cell immune surveillance.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The antitumor mechanisms of anti-CD20 mAbs.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The antitumor mechanisms of anti-CD19 mAbs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Eichhorst B, Robak T, Montserrat E, Ghia P, Niemann CU, Kater AP, et al. . Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: Esmo clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Ann Oncol (2021) 32(1):23–33. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.09.019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dighiero G, Maloum K, Desablens B, Cazin B, Navarro M, Leblay R, et al. . Chlorambucil in indolent chronic lymphocytic leukemia. New Engl J Med (1998) 338(21):1506–14. doi: 10.1056/nejm199805213382104 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rai KR, Peterson BL, Appelbaum FR, Kolitz J, Elias L, Shepherd L, et al. . Fludarabine compared with chlorambucil as primary therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. New Engl J Med (2000) 343(24):1750–7. doi: 10.1056/nejm200012143432402 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hallek M, Fischer K, Fingerle-Rowson G, Fink AM, Busch R, Mayer J, et al. . Addition of rituximab to fludarabine and cyclophosphamide in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: A randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial. Lancet (2010) 376(9747):1164–74. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(10)61381-5 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Burger JA, O’Brien S. Evolution of cll treatment - from chemoimmunotherapy to targeted and individualized therapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol (2018) 15(8):510–27. doi: 10.1038/s41571-018-0037-8 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources