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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Cancer. 2018 Jul 3;4(8):553–566. doi: 10.1016/j.trecan.2018.06.004

Figure 1. Function and regulation of NK cells.

Figure 1

A. NK cell ligands on cancer cells are recognized by NK cell receptors on NK cells, which promotes NK cell-mediated eradication of cancer cells. B. Cancer cells develop a variety of mechanisms to evade eradication by NK cells. Immune evasion mechanisms include shedding of NK cell ligands by cancer cells, downregulation of activating receptors on NK cells, and the overexpression of inhibitory ligands by cancer cells. C. Cancer cells must evade NK cells, which play important roles during the multiple stages of tumor development and progression.