NK cells are innate immune cells with inherent capabilities in both recognizing and killing cancer cells. NK cell phenotypes and functional alterations are being described with increasing precision among patients harboring various cancer types, emphasizing the critical role that NK cells play in antitumor immune responses. In addition, advances in understanding NK cell biology have improved our knowledge of such alterations, thereby expanding the potential exploitation of NK cells’ anticancer capabilities. In this review, we present an overview of (1) the various types of NK cell alterations that may contribute to immune evasion in cancer patients and (2) the various strategies to improve NK cell-based anticancer immunotherapies, including pharmacologic modulation and/or genetic modification.

中文翻译：

---

肿瘤微环境中 NK 细胞功能障碍的机制和目前利用 NK 细胞潜力进行免疫治疗的临床方法

NK 细胞是先天免疫细胞，具有识别和杀死癌细胞的固有能力。NK 细胞表型和功能改变在各种癌症类型的患者中被越来越精确地描述，强调了 NK 细胞在抗肿瘤免疫反应中的关键作用。此外，对 NK 细胞生物学理解的进步提高了我们对此类改变的了解，从而扩大了对 NK 细胞抗癌能力的潜在利用。在这篇综述中，我们概述了 (1) 可能导致癌症患者免疫逃避的各种类型的 NK 细胞改变和 (2) 改善基于 NK 细胞的抗癌免疫疗法的各种策略，包括药物调节和/或基因改造。