CELL INTELLIGENCE · 肿瘤细胞治疗研究

Natural killer (NK) cells are pivotal effector cells of the innate immune system. Their capacity to recognize and eliminate malignant cells without requiring antigen priming has attracted considerable interest in tumor immunotherapy. While NK cell therapy has shown relatively consistent clinical activity across various hematologic malignancies, its efficacy in solid tumors remains highly variable, posing significant challenges for clinical translation. This review summarizes the biological characteristics and antitumor mechanisms of NK cells. Based on published clinical evidence, it describes and synthesizes the heterogeneity in therapeutic efficacy across both solid tumors-including breast cancer (BC), ovarian cancer (OC), and melanoma (MEL)-and hematologic malignancies. The findings indicate that NK cell efficacy heterogeneity arises primarily from multiple factors: immunosuppression within the tumor microenvironment (TME), inadequate tumor infiltration capacity, heterogeneity in target antigen expression, and inhibitory receptor signaling. In addition, product-related attributes-including cell source, genetic engineering strategies, ex vivo expansion protocols, pretreatment regimens, and dosage-substantially influence therapeutic outcomes. Moving forward, the development of NK cell immunotherapy should focus on mechanism-informed patient selection and the rational design of combination therapy to facilitate sustained translation into precision oncology practice.