Allogeneic NK Cells Are Coming to Beat Cancer at a Clinic Near You

At the end of her clinical training as a hemo-oncologist specializing in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation, Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD, realized that she had this love of immunology and looking after patients who undergo stem cell transplantation, especially allogeneic stem cell transplantation—taking a graft from one healthy donor and giving it to another person. She knew that much of that curative effect is driven by the immune system, so she began to ask the question: can you isolate that robust anti-leukemia immune response from all the side effects that come with doing a stem cell transplantation?

That question launched Rezvani into a successful career in understanding and developing allogeneic immune cell therapies. In this episode, Rezvani tells me why she’s so captivated by one particular immune cell—NK cells—for cell therapies. We discuss how NK cells compare to T cells and the different ways they are being engineered to treat cancer and other diseases with accessible and affordable cell therapies.

Rezvani is a Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center and, most recently, was dubbed the vice president & head of the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation. Rezvani also holds the inaugural Melvyn N. Klein Family Endowed Directorship for the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation.

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Produced by Bill Levine

Hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD

Music provided by Artem Hramushkin

Audio mixed and mastered by Jason Mack

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