title: Umbilical Cord Blood Natural Killer Cells, Their Characteristics, and Potential Clinical Applications.
abstract: Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes of the innate immune system able to kill different targets such as cancer cells and virally infected cells without prior activation making then attractive candidates for cancer immunotherapy. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has become a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation but as we gain a better understanding of the characteristics of each immune cell that UCB contains, we will also be able to develop new cell therapies for cancer. In this review, we present what is currently known of the phenotype and functions of UCB NK cells and how these cells could be used in the future for cancer immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Anthony Nolan Research Institute, London, UK; Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Anushruti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarvaria
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah International Medical Research Center , Riyadh , Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Dunia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jawdat
authors.affiliation: Anthony Nolan Research Institute, London, UK; Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: J Alejandro
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Madrigal
authors.affiliation: Anthony Nolan Research Institute, London, UK; Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saudemont
keywords: cancer; hematopoietic stem cells; immunotherapy; natural killer cells; umbilical cord blood