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Cancer Immunology pp 133–146Cite as

The Role of NK Cells in Cancer

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Abstract

Although NK cells were initially discovered and named for their spontaneous ability to kill tumor cells, the knowledge of NK cells has grown to include not only their cytotoxic but also their immunoregulatory function, as well as characterization of many new activating and inhibitory receptors whose balance regulates their activity. In this sense, through recognition of cognate ligands on tumor cells by these receptors NK cells are able to distinguish transformed from normal cells. However, immunosuppressive factors produced by tumors affect NK cell receptor repertoire and lead to impaired NK cell function that facilitates tumor immune escape and disease progression. Better understanding of alterations in NK cell receptor expression, disturbance in NK cell activation, and effectors function in cancer patients may aid in defining novel biomarkers of disease as well as in creating many new immunotherapeutic strategies that potentiate NK cell antitumor activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, number 175056.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

    Vladimir Jurišić

  2. Institute of Oncology and Radiology, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ana Vuletić, Katarina Mirjačić Martinović & Gordana Konjević

  3. School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Gordana Konjević

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  1. Vladimir Jurišić
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  2. Ana Vuletić
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  3. Katarina Mirjačić Martinović
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  4. Gordana Konjević
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Immunodeficiencies, Children’s Medical Center, Pediatrics Center of Excellence, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Nima Rezaei

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Jurišić, V., Vuletić, A., Martinović, K.M., Konjević, G. (2020). The Role of NK Cells in Cancer. In: Rezaei, N. (eds) Cancer Immunology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30845-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30845-2_9

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