donor natural killer cell

Donor natural killer (NK) cell therapy is a type of cellular immunotherapy that involves collecting NK cells from a donor, expanding and/or activating them ex vivo, and infusing them into a recipient to treat various diseases, primarily hematological malignancies. NK cells are part of the innate immune system with the ability to recognize and eliminate cancer cells without prior sensitization. Unlike T-cell therapies, NK cells can be transferred between individuals without extensive HLA matching and with minimal risk of graft-versus-host disease. The therapy often involves haploidentical donors (partially HLA-matched, such as parents or siblings) whose NK cells may exhibit enhanced anti-tumor activity due to KIR-ligand incompatibility with the recipient. The cells are typically expanded ex vivo using various methods, including cytokine stimulation (commonly IL-2, IL-12, IL-15, and IL-18) and/or feeder cells. Cytokine-induced memory-like (CIML) NK cells represent a specialized approach where donor NK cells are stimulated with specific cytokines to enhance their persistence and anti-tumor activity. Donor NK cells are often administered in the context of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to reduce relapse risk, though they can also be used as standalone therapy.

Other names

donor-derived NK celldonor NK celldonor-derived natural killer cellhaploidentical NK cellallogeneic NK cellex vivo-expanded NK cell