This review gives an overview of natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapies. The authors describe the various engineering strategies used to increase NK cell cytotoxicity and persistence, as well as the current challenges and opportunities for the future design of next-generation NK cell therapies.

Environmental exposure to aristolochic acid-containing plant material and its use in traditional medicines have been linked to a wide range of cancers. In this Review, Das et al. describe the evidence for aristolochic acid as a potent carcinogen and explore the impact of public health measures on preventing aristolochic acid-linked cancers and nephropathy, with a call to action for the implementation of further preventative measures.

Cancer cells use telomere-maintenance mechanisms to achieve replicative immortality. This Review describes these mechanisms — telomerase and the ALT pathway — and the recent developments in targeting them as therapeutic strategies for patients with cancer.

Structural variations (SVs), which comprise genome-level aneuploidies and rearrangements, result in both copy number changes and novel interactions between formerly distant genomic elements. This Perspective discusses how the folding of the 3D genome, and differences in its folding across cell types, affect the formation of SVs and their impact on cancer cell fitness in different cancer types.