Natural killer cells and other innate lymphoid cells in cancer

Immuno-oncology is an emerging field that has revolutionized cancer treatment. Most immunomodulatory strategies focus on enhancing T cell responses, but there has been a recent surge of interest in harnessing the relatively underexplored natural killer (NK) cell compartment for therapeutic interventions. NK cells show cytotoxic activity against diverse tumour cell types, and some of the clinical approaches originally developed to increase T cell cytotoxicity may also activate NK cells. Moreover, increasing numbers of studies have identified novel methods for increasing NK cell antitumour immunity and expanding NK cell populations ex vivo, thereby paving the way for a new generation of anticancer immunotherapies. The role of other innate lymphoid cells (group 1 innate lymphoid cell (ILC1), ILC2 and ILC3 subsets) in tumours is also being actively explored. This Review provides an overview of the field and summarizes current immunotherapeutic approaches for solid tumours and haematological malignancies. Eric Vivier and colleagues discuss the emerging roles for natural killer (NK) cells and other innate lymphoid cell populations in cancer immunity. The authors highlight the current immunotherapy trials that are targeting NK cells to treat patients with cancer.