Adoptive T cell therapy for ovarian cancer

Although ovarian cancer patients typically respond to standard of care therapies, including chemotherapy and DNA repair inhibitors, the majority of tumors recur highlighting the need for alternative therapies. Ovarian cancer is an immunogenic cancer in which the accumulation of tumor in filtrating lymphocytes (TILs), particularly T cells, is associated with better patient outcome. Thus, harnessing the immune system through passive administration of T cells, a process called adoptive cell therapy (ACT), is a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of ovarian cancer. There are multiple routes by which tumor -speci fic T cell products can be generated. Dendritic cell cancer vaccines can be administered to the patients to induce or bolster T cell responses against tumor antigens or be utilized ex vivo to prime T cells against tumor antigens; these T cells can then be prepared for infusion. ACT protocols can also utilize naturally -occurring tumor -reactive T cells isolated from a patient tumor, known as TILs, as these cells often are heterogeneous in composition and antigen speci ficity with patient -speci fic cancer recognition. Alternatively, T cells may be sourced from the peripheral blood, including those that are genetically modi fied to express a tumor antigen -speci fic T cell receptor (TCR) or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to redirect their speci ficity and promote their activity against tumor cells expressing the target tumor antigen. Here, we review current ACT strategies for ovarian cancer and provide insights into advancing ACT therapy strategies for the treatment of ovarian cancer. (c) 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.