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Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Analysis of Human T Cell Activity in an Allogeneic Co-Culture Setting of Pre-Treated Tumor Cells
Published on: March 7, 2025
Tailoring Natural Killer cell immunotherapy to the tumour microenvironment
Alexander David Barrow1, Marco Colonna1
1Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Abstract:
Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic and cytokine-secreting cells that can mediate potent anti-tumour activity. Accumulating evidence indicates that NK cell functions are severely compromised within the confines of the tumour microenvironment thus impairing the efficacy and development of NK cell-based therapies. Here we review the various cellular and molecular pathways that tumours have supplanted to evade NK cell surveillance. We highlight novel strategies designed to alleviate or circumvent the immunosuppressive conditions of the tumour microenvironment in order to emancipate NK cell function and stifle the inexorable growth and metastasis of malignant cells.
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