The Function of NK Cells in Tumor Metastasis and Tumor microenvironment

Innate immune natural killer (NK) cells comprise a unique population of innate lymphoid cells endowed with intrinsic abilities to identify and eliminate virally infected cells and tumour cells. NK cells are capable of killing metastatic cancer cells without prior activation by antigen-presenting cells beforehand.Possessing multiple cytotoxicity mechanisms and the ability to modulate the immune response through cytokine production, NK cells play a pivotal role in anticancer immunity. Among immune cells, NK cells can, directly and indirectly, interact with circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to control cancer metastasis.In this Review, We discuss how metastatic tumors escape the NK cell attack and we focus on enhance NK cell targeting and persistence in the tumor microenvironment.