Many cancers metastasize to the lungs, yet immune cells rarely succeed in eliminating them. Here we show that although NK cells that patrol the lung vasculature are highly differentiated and cytotoxic to circulating tumor cells, these fail to access extravasated lesions, while NK cells that infiltrate the tumor parenchyma are less differentiated, exhibit poor cytotoxicity functionally restrained by TGF-β, allowing metastatic tumors to persist.
- Marijne Vermeer
- Colin Sparano
- Sònia Tugues
