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Natural Killer Cells in the Treatment of Human Cancer

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Natural Killer Cells

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Abstract

NK cells may be exploited in the treatment of human cancer. One strategy aims for activation of endogenous NK cells in the cancer patient. Another takes advantage of the knowledge regarding “missing-self” recognition and KIR–HLA mismatches in settings of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) followed by, in some situations, the use of NK cell-based donor lymphocyte infusions. Other strategies employ direct adoptive transfer of NK cells. Here, we briefly discuss these and other prospects for the treatment of human cancer using NK cells either directly or indirectly.

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Acknowledgments

We are supported by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Children’s Cancer Society, the Cancer Society of Stockholm, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Karolinska University Hospital. This content of chapter is, in part, on the basis of a symposium paper published in Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, Springer-Verlag, 2008 (Oct;57(10):1541-52. Epub 2008 Mar 4).

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  1. Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, S-141 86, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karl-Johan Malmberg & Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren

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  1. Karl-Johan Malmberg
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  2. Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren
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Correspondence to Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren .

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  1. Lab. Immuno-Allergologie, Centre de Recherche Public, Val Fleuri 84, Luxembourg, 1526, Luxembourg

    Jacques Zimmer

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Malmberg, KJ., Ljunggren, HG. (2010). Natural Killer Cells in the Treatment of Human Cancer. In: Zimmer, J. (eds) Natural Killer Cells. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02309-5_22

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