Natural killer cels in immunotherapy for cancer

CAR NK-сells for the treatment of hematological malignancies: A review

Hematological malignant neoplasms include more than a hundred different subtypes and account for about 4.8% of all neoplastic diseases in Russia. Despite significant advances in diagnosis and treatment, many of them remain incurable. In recent years, cell-based therapy appears to be a promising approach to the treatment of these incurable hematologic malignancies, showing striking results in various clinical trials. The most studied and advanced cell therapy is the therapy with T-lymphocytes modified with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). However, although the US Food and Drug Administration has approved CAR T cells for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, significant problems remain in terms of production, cost, and serious side effects. An alternative to the use of T cells can be the use of innate immune cells, in particular natural killer cells (NK), which have a high antitumor potential. Recent studies have shown the antitumor efficacy of a therapy that uses genetically modified natural killer cells CAR NK cells. The purpose of this review was to describe and systematize the experience of using CAR NK cells for the treatment of hematological neoplasms. The review presents the advantages and disadvantages of this method, as well as the problems that still have to be solved for its widespread introduction into clinical practice.

Immunotherapeutic Approaches for the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) originating from the cells of the colon or rectum has a high mortality rate worldwide. Numerous attempts have been made to raise the overall survival rates of CRC patients. It is well-known that the development of malignant neoplasms is accompanied by suppression of the immune system, which is likely the cause for the failure of standard treatment methods. Immune response has long been an issue of great interest in cancer therapy and anti-tumor immunity that consider the development of immunotherapeutic antitumor methods resulting in the immune system activation as an important issue. This review discusses main immunotherapeutic approaches available for the CRC treatment.