AUTHOR=Nair Shiny, Dhodapkar Madhav V. TITLE=Natural Killer T Cells in Cancer Immunotherapy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01178 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2017.01178 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=Natural killer T (NKT) cells are specialized CD1d-restricted T cells that recognize lipid antigens. Following stimulation, NKT cells lead to downstream activation of both innate and adaptive immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. This has impelled the development of NKT cell-targeted immunotherapies for treating cancer. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the stimulatory and regulatory functions of NKT cells in tumor immunity as well as highlight preclinical and clinical studies based on NKT cells. Finally, we discuss future perspectives to better harness the potential of NKT cells for cancer therapy.