Thanks to the initiative and financial support of Ovacure, a Danish non-profit organisation accelerating curative treatments in the fight against ovarian cancer, complemented with the scientific input of the Anticancer Fund, the team of Prof. Inge-Marie Svane from the Center for Cancer Immune Therapy, Herlev Hospital at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark started developing an innovative treatment for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

The treatment consists of collecting immune cells (T cells) from the patient own's tumour, multiplying (expanding) them and reinjecting them in the same patient. This is known as adoptive T cell transfer.

In this publication, the goal was to investigate whether clinical-grade T cells could be manufactured from ovarian cancer tumour specimens. The researchers were able to produce T cells from all the 34 tumours used. They also show that the majority of the T cells produced could recognise the tumour cells.

All results are summarised in this publication: Tumour-reactive T cell subsets in the microenvironment of ovarian cancer.

Having demonstrated the feasibility of producing clinic-grade T cells from ovarian tumours, the researchers went on to test the safety, immunity and efficacy of this treatment in a clinical trial.