Liu Yueyang, Su Chen, Wei Xiyao, Wei Ningbo, Qian Qijun, Xu Zenghui
Shanghai Mengchao Cancer Hospital, Shanghai 201805, P.R. China.
Oncol Rep. 2025 Aug;54(2). doi: 10.3892/or.2025.8921. Epub 2025 Jun 6.
Brain tumours are in the spotlight of oncology research due to their intractability and resistance to conventional treatments. High‑risk craniotomies must be performed on patients during tumour resection surgeries due to the specificity of the brain structure, and the complexity of the brain structure also leads to the fact that brain tumours usually cannot be removed completely. Besides, the inability of foreign small molecules to cross the blood‑brain barrier has led to the inability of conventional drug therapy to reach the tumour location in the brain. Furthermore, the damage to healthy brain tissue caused by conventional radiotherapy cannot be ignored. Therefore, brain tumours represented by gliomas are in urgent need for a novel therapeutic approach. Glioma is the most common brain tumour, accounting for 81% of malignant tumours in the central nervous system, and is characterized by high morbidity, recurrence, mortality and low cure rate. In recent years, natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy for gliomas has gradually emerged and numerous studies have shown surprising therapeutic effects. NK cells have been demonstrated to traverse the blood‑brain barrier and numerous studies have confirmed their ability to kill glioma cells both and . This article begins by introducing conventional therapies for glioma, followed by an overview of the potential of NK cell‑based immunotherapy in glioma treatment and the regulatory mechanisms of NK cells within the glioma immune microenvironment. It then summarizes preclinical studies on CAR‑NK cells and clinical advancements in NK cell therapy for glioma. Finally, the paper discusses recent progress in immunotherapy for gliomas and explores novel therapeutic strategies combining NK cell immunotherapy with other treatment modalities.
脑肿瘤因其难治性和对传统治疗的耐药性而成为肿瘤学研究的焦点。由于脑结构的特殊性，在肿瘤切除手术过程中必须对患者进行高风险的开颅手术，而且脑结构的复杂性还导致脑肿瘤通常无法被完全切除。此外，外来小分子无法穿过血脑屏障，导致传统药物治疗无法到达脑内的肿瘤部位。此外，传统放疗对健康脑组织造成的损害也不容忽视。因此，以胶质瘤为代表的脑肿瘤迫切需要一种新的治疗方法。胶质瘤是最常见的脑肿瘤，占中枢神经系统恶性肿瘤的81%，具有高发病率、高复发率、高死亡率和低治愈率的特点。近年来，针对胶质瘤的自然杀伤（NK）细胞免疫疗法逐渐兴起，众多研究显示出惊人的治疗效果。NK细胞已被证明可以穿越血脑屏障，许多研究证实了它们在体内和体外杀死胶质瘤细胞的能力。本文首先介绍胶质瘤的传统治疗方法，接着概述基于NK细胞的免疫疗法在胶质瘤治疗中的潜力以及NK细胞在胶质瘤免疫微环境中的调节机制。然后总结了CAR-NK细胞的临床前研究以及NK细胞治疗胶质瘤的临床进展。最后，本文讨论了胶质瘤免疫疗法的最新进展，并探索将NK细胞免疫疗法与其他治疗方式相结合的新型治疗策略。
