AUTHOR=Gao Xingchun , Mi Yajing , Guo Na , Xu Hao , Xu Lixian , Gou Xingchun , Jin Weilin 

TITLE=Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells As Pharmacological Tools for Cancer Immunotherapy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.00774

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2017.00774

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are a heterogeneous population of effector CD3<sup>+</sup>CD56<sup>+</sup> natural killer T cells, which can be easily expanded <italic>in vitro</italic> from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. CIK cells work as pharmacological tools for cancer immunotherapy as they exhibit MHC-unrestricted, safe, and effective antitumor activity. Much effort has been made to improve CIK cells cytotoxicity and treatments of CIK cells combined with other antitumor therapies are applied. This review summarizes some strategies, including the combination of CIK with additional cytokines, dendritic cells, check point inhibitors, antibodies, chemotherapeutic agents, nanomedicines, and engineering CIK cells with a chimeric antigen receptor. Furthermore, we briefly sum up the clinical trials on CIK cells and compare the effect of clinical CIK therapy with other immunotherapies. Finally, further research is needed to clarify the pharmacological mechanism of CIK and provide evidence to formulate uniform culturing criteria for CIK expansion.</p>