| Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is generally viewed as an antitumor immune-support cytokine in cancer because it promotes the development, activation, and persistence of NK cells, cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, and memory T cells, thereby strengthening immune-mediated tumor killing. In preclinical and early clinical immunotherapy settings, IL-15 and IL-15-based agonists have been associated with increased cytotoxic lymphocyte activity and reduced tumor growth, and they are being explored in combination with checkpoint blockade, NK-cell therapy, and other immune-based strategies. However, IL-15 is context-dependent rather than uniformly beneficial, because aberrant IL-15 signaling can also support the survival or progression of some hematologic malignancies, so its net effect depends on tumor type, cellular context, and mode of delivery.
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