Engineered tissue-resident NK cells show promise against solid tumors in mice
Stanford researchers transformed natural killer cells into a tissue-resident form that can infiltrate solid tumors and curb their growth in mouse models, especially when used with the antibody cetuximab.
Scientists at Stanford Medicine have devised a technique to supercharge natural killer (NK) cells, converting them into tissue-resident variants capable of entering solid tumors and sustaining lethal activity. By briefly exposing donor NK cells to TGF-β signals from short-lived epithelial tumor cells, they generated CD39-positive NK cells rich in perforin and granzyme A. In mouse models of human melanoma and head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma, these engineered cells reduced tumor growth, and the benefit was markedly greater when combined with the antibody drug cetuximab.
NK cells’ low propensity to trigger host rejection suggests the product could be mass-produced, frozen, and delivered as an off-the-shelf therapy. The researchers are now planning a Phase I clinical trial for patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma, awaiting FDA approval. Funding came from NIH grants, the Tai Tsun Wu Research Fund, and Stanford Bio-X, with contributions from Ohio State University and Washington University School of Medicine.
Why it matters
It could provide a widely accessible cell therapy for solid cancers, addressing a major treatment gap.
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