Interleukin-15 (IL-15) has recently emerged as a novel immunomodulatory cytokine in cancer immunotherapy. IL-15 has the potential to reject and destroy cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment by expanding and activating natural killer (NK), natural killer T (NKT), and memory (m) CD8+T cells. Due to the feasible outcomes obtained from preclinical studies and phase 1/2 clinical trials, IL-15-based therapy, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell or CAR NK cell infusion following in vitro expansion in the presence of IL-15, used in combination with checkpoint inhibitors and other therapy may extend to clinical practice in the future. It is also important to understand the biological characteristics of IL-15 to ensure the maximal benefit of therapeutic strategies. Here, we summarize the current development of IL-15 in the following areas: anti-tumor mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment, advances in IL-15-based therapy itself or in combination with other methods, including biological agents, monoclonal antibodies, and adoptive immunotherapy.

白介素15（IL-15）最近在癌症免疫治疗中作为一种新型的免疫调节细胞因子出现。IL-15具有通过扩展和激活自然杀伤（NK），自然杀伤T（NKT）和记忆（m）CD8 + T细胞来排斥和破坏肿瘤微环境中癌细胞的潜力。由于从临床前研究和1/2期临床试验获得了可行的结果，因此基于IL-15的治疗包括体外输注嵌合抗原受体（CAR）T细胞或CAR NK细胞与检查点抑制剂和其他疗法联合使用时，在IL-15的存在下可能会扩大其使用范围，将来可能会扩展到临床实践。了解IL-15的生物学特性对确保治疗策略的最大益处也很重要。在这里，我们总结了IL-15在以下领域的最新发展：肿瘤微环境中的抗肿瘤机制，基于IL-15的治疗本身或与其他方法（包括生物制剂，单克隆抗体和过继方法）的结合的进展免疫疗法。