Natural killer cell adoptive immunotherapy: Coming of age.

Cell therapy is a promising alternative to harsh chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer. Natural killer (NK) cells in particular have great potential for direct use in adoptive immunotherapy (AI) for cancer and to improve the graft-vs-leukemia (GVL) effect of hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs). NK cell number and function are associated with a strong GVL effect without inducing graft-versus-host disease in most settings. Clinical trials demonstrating the therapeutic role of NK cells in HSCT recipients or testing the safety and efficacy of AI with NK cells have been primarily directed at treating acute myeloid leukemia, although investigators have used NK cells for treatment of other hematological diseases, sarcomas, carcinomas, and brain tumors. Major challenges must be overcome in making NK cell-based therapy cost-effective, the most important being the need to collect or generate an adequate number of effector cells. In this review, we discuss protocols for isolation, expansion, and in vitro propagation of large quantities of functional NK cells that meet the criteria for clinical applications. Among the methods described are the use of bioreactors for scaling up production and expansion of NK cells in the presence of interleukins and feeder cells. We also discuss novel methodologies that optimize the generation of clinical grade NK-cell products for AI.

High prevalence of anemia in children and adult women in an urban population in southern Brazil.

This population-based study was designed to detect the prevalence of anemia in a healthy population of children (18 months to 7 years) and women (14 to 30 years) tested in 2006-2007 in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil as part of an effort to tackle this massive problem that still affects so many people in the XXI century. Anemia was defined according to the WHO. Capillary blood was measured and socioeconomic status was determined according to the Brazilian Association of Market Research Agencies. The median prevalence of anemia in 2198 children was 45.4% and in 1999 women 36.4%. Anemia decreased with age during childhood; although significantly more prevalent in lower classes individuals, it was also high in the upper classes. There are indirect evidences that the lack of iron supplementation and/or iron fortified food may play a role in it. Professionals and society wise measures of education have to be implemented in order to address possible biologic factors involved in childhood psychosocial development in southern Brazil.