Nk Cells In Cancer Immunotherapy Successes And Challenges

NK Cells in Cancer Immunotherapy: Successes and Challenges explains the latest immunotherapeutic strategies, focusing on NK cells to allow the best and precise combination treatments to cancer patients. The book provides existing background knowledge in the field of immunotherapy and discusses future areas of research required to carry out cutting-edge, validated therapies. Chapters cover advances in immunotherapeutic strategies, in particular, the use of NK cells with and without T-cell therapy in the treatment of cancer. The book is a valuable resource for cancer researchers, oncologists, graduate students and those interested in learning more about novel strategies to treat cancer patients. Immunotherapy is fast becoming the method of choice for cancer therapy. Although remarkable advances have been made in the field of immunotherapy, there are significant challenges and difficulties ahead since many of the current immunotherapeutic strategies do not provide long-lasting treatment strategies, and therefore are not very effective. Covers CAR/T and CAR/NK and adoptive NK cell therapy with and without T cell therapies Discusses basic biology of NK cells and mouse models of human cancers and the role of NK cells in metastatic cancer and in cancer stem cells Encompasses information on combination therapies using check point inhibition, adoptive transfer of cytotoxic effector cells, chemotherapeutic drugs and activating and inhibitory antibodies

Successes and Challenges of NK Immunotherapy: Increasing Anti-tumor Efficacy describes the unique therapeutic applications of NK cells to fight cancers and eliminate the bulk and subset of cancer stem cells responsible for metastasis, relapse and recurrences. The book provides information on the development, engineering, mechanisms of action, response to various preclinical models, and applications in various clinical trials. Sections cover the development of highly engineered cytotoxic NK cells, their mechanisms of action, preclinical and clinical applications, the development and application of CAR-NK cells, and new NK-drug conjugates, also emphasizing that activated NK cells can target and kill highly resistant cancer stem cells. Written by the leading experts on NK immunotherapy worldwide, this is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians and members of the biomedical field who are interested in understanding novel and efficient therapies to fight cancers. Discusses the unique developmental applications of NK immunotherapy against cancers, which differs greatly from other types of immunotherapies Provides up-to-date and highly relevant information through chapters written by the leading researchers in the field Presents a significant number of schematic diagrams for easy understanding and reproducibility

Natural killer cells (NK cells) are the lymphocytes which belong to the same family as B and T cells, because they differentiate from a common progenitor. These cells detect and control early signs of cancer, and also recognize and kill virally infected cells. Specialized natural killer cells are found in placenta and are also known to play an important role in pregnancy. To enhance the immune system, natural killer cells secrete cytokines such as IFNγ and TNFα which act on other immune cells. Activating receptors recognize the molecules which are present on the surface of infected and cancer cells and switch on the natural killer cells. This book explores all the important aspects of natural killer cells. It brings forth the role of natural killer cells in disease response. In this book, using case studies and examples, constant effort has been made to make the understanding of the difficult concepts of this field as easy and informative as possible, for the readers.

Natural killer (NK) cells are immune cells that can eliminate pathogenic microorganisms, aging cells, and tumor cells. State-of-the-art renewal has indicated the feasibility of large-scale preparation of autogenous and allogeneic NK cells from a variety of sources including peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood, placental blood, NK cell lines, and even stem cells such as pluripotent stem cells and hematopoietic stem cells. In the meantime, a range of methodologies has been developed for ex vivo expansion and activation of NK cells such as monolayer culture, coculture with trophoblast cells, bioreactors, cytokine cocktails, and physicochemical irritation. NK cell-based cytotherapy has proven effective for a variety of hematologic malignancies and metastatic solid tumors. This book provides a comprehensive overview of NK cell-based cytotherapy for cancer treatment, immunosurveillance, and immunotherapy.

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphoid cells that have a significant role in regulating the defenses against cancer development and certain viral infections. They are equipped with an array of activating and inhibitory receptors that stimulate or diminish NK cell activity, respectively. Inhibitory receptors include, among others, the MHC class I ligands killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) in humans, and members of the Ly49 family of receptors in mice, and CD94/NKG2A. Activating receptors include cytokine and chemokine receptors, and those that interact with ligands expressed on target cells, such as the natural cytotoxicity receptors or NCRs (NKp30, NKp44 and NKp46), NKG2D, CD244 and DNAM-1. In addition, NK cells express Fc?RIIIA or CD16, the receptor that exerts antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). NK cells also express the death ligands FasL and TRAIL. The killing or sparing of target cells depends on the integration of distinct signals that originate from NK cell receptors. NK cells spare healthy cells that express normal levels of MHC class I molecules and low amounts of stress-induced self-molecules, whereas they kill target cells that down-regulate MHC class I molecules and/or up-regulate stress-induced self-molecules. The latter are common signatures of virus-infected cells and tumors. All the accumulated knowledge on NK cell biology, along with many clinical observations, is driving multiple efforts to improve the arsenal of NK cell-based therapeutic tools in the fight against malignant diseases. Indeed, NK cell-based immunotherapy is becoming a promising approach for the treatment of many cancers. It is well known that NK cells have a significant role in the anti-tumor effect of therapeutic antibodies that use ADCC as a mechanism of action. In addition to this, administration of autologous and allogeneic NK cells after activation and expansion ex vivo is used in the treatment of cancer. Moreover, adoptive transfer of NK cell lines has been tested in humans, and genetically modified NK cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors are being studied in preclinical models for potential use in the clinic.

Expert bench and clinical scientists join forces to concurrently review both the state-of-the-art in tumor immunology and its clinical translation into promising practical treatments. The authors explain in each chapter the scientific basis behind such therapeutic agents as monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, vaccines, and T-cells, and illustrate their clinical manipulation to combat cancer. Additional chapters address statistical analysis-both of clinical trials and assay evaluations-methods for the discovery of antigens, adoptive T cell therapy, and adaptive and innate immunity. The challenges in clinical trial design, the need for biomarkers of response-such as novel imaging techniques and immunologic monitoring-and the new advances and directions in cancer immunotherapy are also fully examined.