The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells
Cellular immunotherapy has revolutionized the oncology field, yielding improved results against hematological and solid malignancies. NK cells have become an attractive alternative due to their capacity to activate upon recognition of “stress” or “danger” signals independently of Major Histocompatib...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Immunology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1167666/full |
| _version_ | 1797835622838173696 |
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| author | Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez Madeline Torres-Lugo R. Brent Dixon R. Brent Dixon John D. Powderly John D. Powderly Renaud F. Warin Renaud F. Warin |
| author_facet | Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez Madeline Torres-Lugo R. Brent Dixon R. Brent Dixon John D. Powderly John D. Powderly Renaud F. Warin Renaud F. Warin |
| author_sort | Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cellular immunotherapy has revolutionized the oncology field, yielding improved results against hematological and solid malignancies. NK cells have become an attractive alternative due to their capacity to activate upon recognition of “stress” or “danger” signals independently of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) engagement, thus making tumor cells a perfect target for NK cell-mediated cancer immunotherapy even as an allogeneic solution. While this allogeneic use is currently favored, the existence of a characterized memory function for NK cells (“memory-like” NK cells) advocates for an autologous approach, that would benefit from the allogeneic setting discoveries, but with added persistence and specificity. Still, both approaches struggle to exert a sustained and high anticancer effect in-vivo due to the immunosuppressive tumor micro-environment and the logistical challenges of cGMP production or clinical deployment. Novel approaches focused on the quality enhancement and the consistent large-scale production of highly activated therapeutic memory-like NK cells have yielded encouraging but still unconclusive results. This review provides an overview of NK biology as it relates to cancer immunotherapy and the challenge presented by solid tumors for therapeutic NKs. After contrasting the autologous and allogeneic NK approaches for solid cancer immunotherapy, this work will present the current scientific focus for the production of highly persistent and cytotoxic memory-like NK cells as well as the current issues with production methods as they apply to stress-sensitive immune cells. In conclusion, autologous NK cells for cancer immunotherapy appears to be a prime alternative for front line therapeutics but to be successful, it will be critical to establish comprehensives infrastructures allowing the production of extremely potent NK cells while constraining costs of production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:55:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a701d706eb7d4707a0e8955b42ad6d10 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-3224 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:55:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Immunology |
| spelling | doaj.art-a701d706eb7d4707a0e8955b42ad6d102023-05-02T05:17:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Immunology1664-32242023-05-011410.3389/fimmu.2023.11676661167666The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cellsGaby D. Lizana-Vasquez0Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez1Madeline Torres-Lugo2R. Brent Dixon3R. Brent Dixon4John D. Powderly5John D. Powderly6Renaud F. Warin7Renaud F. Warin8Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto RicoCancer Research Clinic, Carolina BioOncology Institute (CBOI), Huntersville, NC, United StatesDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto RicoCancer Research Clinic, Carolina BioOncology Institute (CBOI), Huntersville, NC, United StatesHuman Applications Lab (HAL) - BioCytics, Huntersville, NC, United StatesCancer Research Clinic, Carolina BioOncology Institute (CBOI), Huntersville, NC, United StatesHuman Applications Lab (HAL) - BioCytics, Huntersville, NC, United StatesCancer Research Clinic, Carolina BioOncology Institute (CBOI), Huntersville, NC, United StatesHuman Applications Lab (HAL) - BioCytics, Huntersville, NC, United StatesCellular immunotherapy has revolutionized the oncology field, yielding improved results against hematological and solid malignancies. NK cells have become an attractive alternative due to their capacity to activate upon recognition of “stress” or “danger” signals independently of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) engagement, thus making tumor cells a perfect target for NK cell-mediated cancer immunotherapy even as an allogeneic solution. While this allogeneic use is currently favored, the existence of a characterized memory function for NK cells (“memory-like” NK cells) advocates for an autologous approach, that would benefit from the allogeneic setting discoveries, but with added persistence and specificity. Still, both approaches struggle to exert a sustained and high anticancer effect in-vivo due to the immunosuppressive tumor micro-environment and the logistical challenges of cGMP production or clinical deployment. Novel approaches focused on the quality enhancement and the consistent large-scale production of highly activated therapeutic memory-like NK cells have yielded encouraging but still unconclusive results. This review provides an overview of NK biology as it relates to cancer immunotherapy and the challenge presented by solid tumors for therapeutic NKs. After contrasting the autologous and allogeneic NK approaches for solid cancer immunotherapy, this work will present the current scientific focus for the production of highly persistent and cytotoxic memory-like NK cells as well as the current issues with production methods as they apply to stress-sensitive immune cells. In conclusion, autologous NK cells for cancer immunotherapy appears to be a prime alternative for front line therapeutics but to be successful, it will be critical to establish comprehensives infrastructures allowing the production of extremely potent NK cells while constraining costs of production.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1167666/fullautologous immunotherapysolid tumormemory-like natural killer cellscellular stressupscale productionpoint-of-care manufacturing |
| spellingShingle | Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez Gaby D. Lizana-Vasquez Madeline Torres-Lugo R. Brent Dixon R. Brent Dixon John D. Powderly John D. Powderly Renaud F. Warin Renaud F. Warin The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells Frontiers in Immunology autologous immunotherapy solid tumor memory-like natural killer cells cellular stress upscale production point-of-care manufacturing |
| title | The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells |
| title_full | The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells |
| title_fullStr | The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells |
| title_short | The application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory-NK cells |
| title_sort | application of autologous cancer immunotherapies in the age of memory nk cells |
| topic | autologous immunotherapy solid tumor memory-like natural killer cells cellular stress upscale production point-of-care manufacturing |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1167666/full |
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