Impaired NK Activity
Natural killer cells are critical to innate immunity, performing an immunosurveillance function through recognition of altered or missing self on damaged, infected, or transformed malignant cells.[189] They can act against tumour initiation, growth and metastasis; suppressing tumour cells through a variety of effector mechanisms, including the perforin/granzyme-containing granule-mediated pathway, death-receptor pathway and IFN-γ-mediated pathway.[190]
Patients with colorectal cancer have suppressed NK cell activity,[191,192,193,194,195] which is an important prognostic factor for the development of distant metastases,[192,193,194] and is reversed postcurative resection.[195] The modulation of NK responses is believed to occur through downregulating surface expression of the NK's activating NKG2D receptors and chemokine CXCR1 receptors.[166,196]
Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006;24(8):1163-1177. © 2006 Blackwell Publishing
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