Therapeutics
natural born KILLERS
how natural killer cell therapy will transform immunotherapy
Regulatory approval of CAR-T cell therapies in 2017 placed the spotlight on immunotherapy approaches that use live cells to attack tumours – a major shift in oncology treatment. Yet even this groundbreaking therapy has limitations, such as when patients already immuno-depressed from a first-line treatment do not have sufficient T-cells to modify or stimulate. For this reason, investigators are looking to NK (natural killer) cell therapy as the next frontier of immunotherapy.
By Dr Azusa Tanaka and Dr Michael Seiler
I
n the fast-growing field of immunotherapy – using the power of the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer – therapies based on the
use of T-cells were the first to make major break- throughs. T-cell-based therapy progressed from popular checkpoint inhibitors such as Keytruda® and Opdivo®, to newer approaches that use live cells to attack tumours. Yet, even these ground- breaking therapies have risks, such as neurotoxic- ity, as well as limitations, such as when patients already immuno-depressed from a first-line treat- ment may not have sufficient T-cells to modify or stimulate. For this reason, investigators are look- ing to harness other immune cells, particularly NK (natural killer) cells, as the next frontier of immunotherapy for the fight against cancer. As the evolution of precision medicine continues, NK cell therapy will play an important role in guiding effi- cacious treatments. To understand the role of NK cell therapy in advancing immunotherapy, it is useful to reflect on
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how oncology treatment has evolved and given rise to the current
focus on immunotherapy.
Historically, drug development took a ‘one size fits all’ approach, with the medication developed with the average patient in mind. With the availability of genome sequencing of patient and tumour muta- tions, cancer drug development began to open a new frontier for precision medicine. Now, the med- ication can take into account the individual differ- ences between patients with regard to biology and tumour mutations. This personalised medicine approach is taking
root not only in the for-profit world of pharma- ceutical and biotech companies, but also in academia and government agencies. The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us research pro- gramme is a prime example; it aims to extend pre- cision medicine to all diseases, a mission it hopes to accomplish by building a research cohort of at least one million Americans. Some governmental agencies are increasing support for the study of
Drug Discovery World Spring 2018
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