Promoting NK cell trafficking to improve therapeutic effect of NK cell therapy on osteosarcoma

Background Despite the ability of NK cells to kill cancer cells, NK cell–based immunotherapy has resulted in limited clinical benefit. This is largely due to the poor capacity of adoptively transferred NK cells to home to tumors. We have shown that NK cells are able to kill osteosarcoma (OS) cells in vitro in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that recruiting more NK cells to OS lung metastasis in vivo may help to achieve greater therapeutic benefit. NK cell trafficking is mediated by specific chemokine receptors expressed on NK cells, but the specific receptors necessary for NK cell migration to solid tumors including OS are ill-defined.