Natural killer (NK) cells have long been recognized for their anti-cancer activity and are now included in the large family of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). The discovery of new ILC subsets that, similarly to NK cells, are able to kill tumor cells encourages us to redefine NK cell role in anti-tumor immunity. Conventional NK cells circulate through the blood and screen the body for "stressed" cells. Therefore, NK cells are believed to play a key role in cancer immunosurveillance by the early elimination of cells undergoing malignant transformation. Tissue-resident ILCs might play a similar role since they are ideally located to detect the early signs of malignant transformation in their organ of residence. We are only beginning to appreciate the importance of the whole ILC family in cancer. Confusingly, these cells have been reported to both inhibit and fuel cancer progression and the factors regulating these dual functions remain unclear. Here, I review the recent advances in our understanding of cytotoxic and cytokine-producing helper ILC subsets in cancer.

中文翻译：

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细胞毒性和辅助先天性淋巴样细胞在癌症中的作用。

天然杀伤（NK）细胞因其抗癌活性而早已为人所知，现在已包含在大批先天性淋巴细胞（ILC）中。与NK细胞相似，能够杀死肿瘤细胞的新ILC亚群的发现鼓励我们重新定义NK细胞在抗肿瘤免疫中的作用。常规的NK细胞在血液中循环并筛选体内的“应激”细胞。因此，认为NK细胞通过早期消除经历恶性转化的细胞在癌症免疫监视中起关键作用。驻留在组织中的ILC可能起类似的作用，因为它们的位置非常理想，可以检测其居住器官中恶变的早期迹象。我们才刚刚开始意识到整个ILC家庭在癌症中的重要性。令人困惑的是 据报道这些细胞既抑制癌症又促进癌症发展，调节这些双重功能的因素仍不清楚。在这里，我回顾了我们对癌症中细胞毒性和产生细胞因子的辅助ILC亚型的理解的最新进展。