基因工程免疫细胞疗法在肿瘤治疗中已经部分改变了传统方法，例如使用嵌合抗原受体（CAR-T）细胞治疗某些血液恶性肿瘤。然而，需要解决几个限制问题以针对更多癌症类型。自然杀伤（NK）细胞是一类体内免疫细胞，在癌症免疫监视中具有独特的生物学作用。特别是从健康供体获得的NK细胞可以作为基因工程免疫细胞疗法的资源。因此，以NK细胞为基础的治疗，包括NK细胞、CAR-NK细胞以及诱导NK细胞抗体依赖性细胞毒作用的抗体，已经出现。随着基因工程和细胞生物学技术的最新进展，NK细胞为基础的治疗已成为广泛适应于多种癌症、病毒感染和衰老的有希望的方法。本综述简要介绍了NK细胞的特点，并总结了可能从NK为基础的治疗中获益的疾病。此外，我们还讨论了最近在采用NK细胞移植和能够调节NK细胞活性的药物方面的临床前和临床研究。Copyright © 2023 Shin, Bak, Park, Kim, Yoon, Jung and Noh.

Gene-engineered immune cell therapies have partially transformed cancer treatment, as exemplified by the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells in certain hematologic malignancies. However, there are several limitations that need to be addressed to target more cancer types. Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of innate immune cells that represent a unique biology in cancer immune surveillance. In particular, NK cells obtained from heathy donors can serve as a source for genetically engineered immune cell therapies. Therefore, NK-based therapies, including NK cells, CAR-NK cells, and antibodies that induce antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity of NK cells, have emerged. With recent advances in genetic engineering and cell biology techniques, NK cell-based therapies have become promising approaches for a wide range of cancers, viral infections, and senescence. This review provides a brief overview of NK cell characteristics and summarizes diseases that could benefit from NK-based therapies. In addition, we discuss recent preclinical and clinical investigations on the use of adoptive NK cell transfer and agents that can modulate NK cell activity.Copyright © 2023 Shin, Bak, Park, Kim, Yoon, Jung and Noh.