Hematology and Oncology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Stem Cell Res Ther. 2024 Aug 13;15(1):254. doi: 10.1186/s13287-024-03869-z.
Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are a novel subgroup of immune effectors, classified as one of the modified T cell-mediated arms for immunotherapy. These cells exert MHC-unrestricted cytotoxicity against both hematological and solid malignancies with low incidence of treatment-related severe complications. This study reviews the application of CIK cells in treating cases with hematologic malignancies.
CIK cells consist of CD3/CD56 natural killer (NK) T cells, CD3/CD56 NK cells, and CD3/CD56 cytotoxic T cells. In this regard, the CD3/CD56 NK T cells are the primary effectors. Compared with the previously reported antitumor immune cells, CIK cells are characterized by improved in vitro proliferation and amplification, enhanced migration and invasive capacity to tumor region, more significant antitumor activity, and a broader antitumor spectrum. CIK cells can also induce death in tumor cells via numerous pathways and mechanisms. Hence, CIKs-based therapy has been used in various clinical trials and has shown efficacy with a very low graft versus host disease (GVHD) against several cancers, such as hematologic malignancies, even in relapsing cases, or cases not responding to other therapies. Despite the high content of T cells, CIK cells induce low alloreactivity and, thus, pose a restricted threat of GVHD induction even in MHC-mismatched transplantation cases. Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of CIK cell therapy have also highlighted satisfactory therapeutic advantages against hematologic cancers, indicating the safety of CIK cells even in haploidentical transplantation settings.
CIK cells have shown promising results in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, especially in combination with other antitumor strategies. However, the existing controversies in achieving desired clinical responses underscore the importance of future studies.
细胞因子诱导的杀伤（CIK）细胞是一种新型的免疫效应细胞亚群，被归类为免疫治疗中修饰的 T 细胞介导的手段之一。这些细胞对血液系统恶性肿瘤和实体恶性肿瘤具有 MHC 非限制性细胞毒性，且治疗相关严重并发症发生率低。本研究综述了 CIK 细胞在血液系统恶性肿瘤治疗中的应用。
CIK 细胞由 CD3/CD56 自然杀伤（NK）T 细胞、CD3/CD56 NK 细胞和 CD3/CD56 细胞毒性 T 细胞组成。在这方面，CD3/CD56 NK T 细胞是主要效应细胞。与之前报道的抗肿瘤免疫细胞相比，CIK 细胞具有体外增殖和扩增能力提高、向肿瘤区域迁移和侵袭能力增强、抗肿瘤活性更强、抗肿瘤谱更广的特点。CIK 细胞还可以通过多种途径和机制诱导肿瘤细胞死亡。因此，CIK 细胞为基础的治疗已在各种临床试验中得到应用，并在多种癌症中显示出疗效，包括血液系统恶性肿瘤，甚至在复发病例或对其他治疗无反应的病例中也有疗效。尽管 CIK 细胞中 T 细胞含量高，但 CIK 细胞诱导的同种异体反应性低，因此，即使在 MHC 错配移植病例中，GVHD 的诱导风险也有限。CIK 细胞治疗的 1 期和 2 期临床试验也突出了其对血液系统恶性肿瘤的治疗优势，表明 CIK 细胞即使在单倍体不相合移植环境中也是安全的。
CIK 细胞在血液系统恶性肿瘤的治疗中显示出良好的疗效，尤其是与其他抗肿瘤策略联合应用时。然而，在实现预期临床反应方面存在争议，这突出了未来研究的重要性。
