Innovative Off-the-Shelf Immunotherapy Offers New Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of gynecological cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although initial treatments involving surgery and chemotherapy can effectively reduce tumors, more than 80% of patients experience cancer recurrence that tends to be more aggressive and resistant to existing therapies. Recent advancements from UCLA researchers introduce a promising new approach: CAR-NKT cell therapy. This novel immunotherapy leverages genetically engineered immune cells called invariant natural killer T (NKT) cells, armed with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR), to target and destroy ovarian cancer cells more effectively.

The research team, led by Professor Lili Yang, has developed a scalable, off-the-shelf platform for producing CAR-NKT cells from donated blood stem cells. Unlike traditional personalized immunotherapies, which are costly and time-consuming, this approach enables mass production, significantly reducing treatment costs—to approximately $5,000 per dose—and dramatically improving accessibility. Yang emphasizes that this could allow immediate treatment availability in hospitals worldwide.

The engineered CAR-NKT cells are designed to overcome common challenges faced by other immunotherapies like CAR-T cells, particularly their limited efficacy against solid tumors. These cells can recognize multiple molecular markers on tumor cells, making it difficult for cancer to evade attack and reducing the likelihood of resistance development. Additionally, CAR-NKT cells possess enhanced ability to penetrate tumor barriers and simultaneously eliminate immunosuppressive cells within the tumor environment, boosting their overall effectiveness.

Preclinical testing on various ovarian cancer tumor samples has demonstrated that CAR-NKT cells successfully eradicated cancer cells in all tested cases, including tumors from patients with recurrent disease after chemotherapy. The promising results have propelled the team toward filing applications with regulatory agencies to initiate clinical trials.

While the initial focus is on ovarian cancer, the broad mechanism of action suggests potential applications across other solid tumors such as lung and brain cancers, which share similar resistance traits. The interdisciplinary collaboration between oncologists and immunologists exemplifies how innovative research can lead to transformative cancer therapies, potentially revolutionizing how ovarian and other solid tumors are treated.

Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-scientists-shelf-immunotherapy-ovarian-cancer.html