Résumé
The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) is located in 100-200kb region of the leukocyte receptor complex (LRC) on chromosome 19. KIR, mainly expresses on the surface of natural killer (NK) cells, is divided into inhibitory and activated receptor in function. Tumor cells could evade the killing of NK cells by regulating down the expression of HLA molecules on the cell surface. KIR molecules regulate the killing effect of NK cells by combining with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) to conduct inhibitory and active signals. In recent years, KIR and its immune regulation on tumors have become a research hotspot. The article reviews the research progress of KIR and its association with tumors, especially the correlation between KIR and high incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Guangdong and Guangxi of China.