Definition

A population of donor-derived cytokine-induced, memory-like, cytotoxic natural killer (NK) cells (CIML NKs), with potential antitumor activity. Allogeneic NK cells are pre-activated ex vivo with various cytokines, which induces the differentiation of the NK cells into CIML NK cells. The pretreated NK cells exhibit enhanced activation and interferon-gamma (IFN-g) responses, and may exert enhanced cytotoxicity against tumor cells. Upon administration, the CIML NKs may induce an anti-tumor immune response and kill tumor cells.