Natural Killer cells: from the discovery of receptors to therapy for high-risk leukemias

With: Lorenzo Moretta, MD; Full Professor of General Pathology and Pathophysiology at the Medical School of the University of Genoa; Director of the Immunology Area and of the Department of Laboratories and Diagnostic Immunology at Ospedale Pedatrico Bambino Gesù, Roma. Professor Moretta first identified T lymphocyte subpopulations in humans and now researches tumor immunology and bone marrow transplantation to cure high risk acute leukemias and selected immunodeficiencies.

Natural Killer (NK) cells play an important role in innate defenses against tumors, but the tumor microenvironment may sharply inhibit their effector functions. We will discuss how these functions can be restored through interaction with specific receptors, and how NK cells can be exploited in haploidentical hematopoietic stem cells transplantation to cure high-risk leukemias (applied when no compatible donors are available). In these cases, the infusion of NK cells results in better protection against early leukemia relapses and an improvement of the clinical outcome.