Difference between CAR-NK cells and CAR-T cells in the treatment of onco-hematological diseases

Abstract

Oncohematological diseases such as leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma and multiple myeloma are part of a heterogeneous group of malignant
diseases that affect the bone marrow in different ways, altering its functioning and
production of hematopoietic cells and lymphoid organs, resulting in an abnormal
proliferation of unhealthy blood cells. Immunotherapy with CAR-T cells is the most
widely used treatment for patients with these blood malignancies, but because it has
a considerable number of complications for the patient, because it is difficult to obtain
the cells and because of the low cost to health systems, research has begun into
other known cell lines, such as natural killer (NK) cells. Through this bibliographic
review, integrating national and international scientific articles, theses, dissertations
and bibliographic reviews through the Google Scholar, PubMed and Scielo platforms,
we aim to clarify the main differences between the treatment of onco-hematological
diseases with CAR-T and CAR-NK cells, exposing their advantages, disadvantages
and effectiveness in the treatment of patients. Treatment with CAR-NK cells is being
widely studied because it is readily available and can provide immediate treatment,
as well as showing considerably fewer adverse reactions to the patient's body, unlike
the main disadvantage discussed in immunotherapy studies using CAR-T cells.