CAR-NK cells: a promising cellular immunotherapy in lymphoma

IntroductionNew methods in cancer immunotherapy, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, have shown promising results in destroying malignant cells. However, limitations and side effects of CAR-T cell therapy, such as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), neurotoxicity, and cytokine release syndrome, have motivated researchers to investigate safer alternative cells like natural killer (NK) cells.Area coveredNK cells can effectively recognize hematologic malignant cells and destroy them. Many clinical and preclinical studies investigate the efficacy of CAR-NK cells in treating lymphoma and other hematologic malignancies. The results of published clinical trials and preclinical studies have shown that CAR-NK cells could be an appropriate choice for treating lymphoma. In this review, we discuss the characteristics of CAR-NK cells, their role in treating B-cell and T-cell lymphoma, and the challenges faced by using them. We also highlight clinical trials using CAR-NK cells for treating lymphoma.Expert opinionCAR-NK cells have shown promising results in cancer therapy, especially B-cell lymphoma, with a much lower risk for GVHD, cytokine release syndrome, and neurotoxicity than CAR-T cells. Further investigations are required to overcome the obstacles of CAR-NK cell therapy, both generally, and in cancers like T-cell lymphoma.