New views on natural killer cell-based immunotherapy for melanoma treatment

Natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapies treat hematopoietic malignancies, but are less effective against solid tumors. Here, we review recent data on NK cell recognition of melanoma at various stages of the disease and propose a combinatorial strategy to exploit fully the potential of NK cells. Depending on the stage of melanoma progression, NK cell-based therapies could be combined with pharmacological and T cell-based immunotherapies, to: (i) prevent lymph node metastases by redistributing cytotoxic NK cells; (ii) boost NK cell activity using chemotherapy to upregulate activating ligands on tumor cells; and (iii) target visceral metastases by transfer of autologous or allogeneic NK cells.