The Advances and Challenges of CAR-NK Cells for Tumor Immunotherapy

Abstract

Immunotherapies using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells bring an encouraging vision to non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients who develop relapsed lymphoma or are unresponsive to standard chemotherapy, yet they also have limitations and drawbacks. Clinical trials have reported cases of neurotoxicity and cytokine release syndrome (CRS) accompanied by CAR-T cell therapies. To establish a more mature therapy, CAR incorporated into Natural Killer (NK) cells came into being. As a leukocyte involved in innate immunity, NK cell does not require MHC matching, making the production of allogeneic “off-the-shelf” CAR-NK cells possible. Moreover, the controllable life span of CAR-NK cells and little risk of graft-versus-host disease reduce side effects companion by CAR-T. This review provides an overview of CAR-NK design and production before delivery to patients. Different sources of NK cells are compared and the development of CAR molecule construction is introduced.