Acute myeloid leukemia and NK cells: two warriors confront each other

Aroa Baragaño Raneros; Carlos López-Larrea; Beatriz Suárez-Álvarez

doi:10.1080/2162402X.2018.1539617

Acute myeloid leukemia and NK cells: two warriors confront each other

Oncoimmunology. 2018 Oct 31;8(2):e1539617. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2018.1539617. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Aroa Baragaño Raneros¹, Carlos López-Larrea^{1

2}, Beatriz Suárez-Álvarez¹

Affiliations

¹ Translational Immunology Laboratory, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
² Immunology Department, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.

Abstract

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease whose therapies currently show elevated toxicity and a high rate of relapse. Recently, the burgeoning of new anti-tumor therapeutic strategies aimed at enhancing the immune response has pushed natural killer cells (NKs) into the spotlight. These cells are powerful warriors that can bring about the lysis of tumor cells through their cytotoxic ability. However, tumor cells have developed strategies to evade recognition mediated by NKs. Here, we review the mechanisms triggered by AML cells and discuss the emerging immunotherapeutic strategies that potentiate the anti-tumor functions of NKs.

Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia; CAR-T; NKG2D; immune checkpoints; immunotherapy; natural killer cells.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from Plan Nacional de I+D+I 2013–2016 ISCIII (Institute of Health Carlos III; PI16/01318 and PI17/01244), FEDER Funding Program from the European Union; and Red Española de Investigación Renal (REDinREN, grant number RD16/0009/0020).