Chimeric antigen receptor-engineered NK cells: new weapons of cancer immunotherapy with great potential

Abstract Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T (CAR-T) cells have obtained prominent achievement in the clinical immunotherapy of hematological malignant tumors, leading to a rapid development of cellular immunotherapy in cancer treatment. Scientists are also aware of the prospective advantages of CAR engineering in cellular immunotherapy. Due to various limitations such as the serious side effects of CAR-T therapy, researchers began to investigate other immune cells for CAR modification. Natural killer (NK) cells are critical innate immune cells with the characteristic of non-specifically recognizing target cells and with the potential to become “off-the-shelf” products. In recent years, many preclinical studies on CAR-engineered NK (CAR-NK) cells have shown their remarkable efficacy in cancer therapy and their superiority over autologous CAR-T cells. In this review, we summarize the generation, mechanisms of anti-tumor activity and unique advantages of CAR-NK cells, and then analyze some challenges and recent clinical trials about CAR-NK cells therapy. We believe that CAR-NK therapy is a promising prospect for cancer immunotherapy in the future.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

• The interaction of innate immune and adaptive immune system · 2024

• Exploiting innate immunity for cancer immunotherapy · 2023

• CAR-cell therapy in the era of solid tumor treatment: current challenges and emerging therapeutic advances · 2023

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.