胃癌异种移植模型中瘤内注射过继性 NK 细胞联合卡培他滨的化疗-免疫细胞治疗

Three groups of animals have received the following treatments separately: activated NK cells, capecitabine, the combination of capecitabine and activated NK cells, and one was considered as the control group. Morphometric properties of tumor samples were evaluated at the end of the study. NK cells infiltration was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) of hCD56. Mitotic count and treatment response was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The proliferation ratio to apoptosis was determined by IHC assessment of Ki67 and caspase 3.

The results indicated that the NK cell therapy could effectively decrease the mitotic count in pathology assessment, but the tumor was not completely eradicated. In combination with metronomic chemotherapy (MC) of capecitabine, NK cell therapy demonstrated a significant difference in tumor morphometric properties compared to the control group. The proliferation ratio to apoptosis was also in line with pathology data.

Although NK cell therapy could effectively decrease the mitotic count in vivo , the obtained findings indicated lesser potency than MC despite ex vivo activation. In order to enhance NK cell therapy effectiveness, suppressive features of the tumor microenvironment and inhibitory immune checkpoints blockade should be considered.