Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41714550›Full record

SynthesisImmunologic research2026

Efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cells in treatment of ovarian cancer. A meta-analysis of pre-clinical studies.

Nabeel Ahmed, Jawaria Jabeen, Malja Rehman, Safa Noor, Sana Tahseen, Asmaa Qamar, Muhammad Anas, Muhammad Muneeb Khalid, Taseer Ahmad, Weiqun Wang and 1 more

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Immunologic research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Nabeel AhmedYunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Thermal Medical Rehabilitation and Wellness, School of Rehabilitation, International Education School, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China. P202405002@kmmu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-7550-213X
Jawaria JabeenCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-4300-0442
Malja RehmanCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-0524-1941
Safa NoorCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-7530-7253
Sana TahseenPunjab University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-6652-2912
Asmaa QamarCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-5199-6876
Muhammad AnasCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-7020-8589
Muhammad Muneeb KhalidCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0000-5111-3900
Taseer AhmadCollege of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4545-9598
Weiqun WangDepartment of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
Lechun LyuYunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Thermal Medical Rehabilitation and Wellness, School of Rehabilitation, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China. lvlechun@kmmu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0095-4050

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapies have expanded beyond T-cells with addition of natural killer (NK) cells. In ovarian cancer, long-term survival remains poor with the rising need for new therapies. Therefore, this meta-analysis evaluated the pre-clinical efficacy of emerging CAR-NK therapies in ovarian cancer models. Following PRISMA-guidelines and registered protocol (PROSPERO, CRD420251131530), literature from PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus was retrieved till 30-06-2025 for pre-clinical in-vivo studies of CAR-NK therapy in ovarian cancer. Studies without in-vivo components or human CAR-NK were excluded. Primary outcomes were ratio of means (ROM) for tumor burden and median survival ratio (MSR). Data was analyzed in JASP™ and risk of bias (RoB) was determined using SYRCLE's RoB tool for animal studies. Fourteen experiments (21 CAR-NK groups) were included. CAR-NK significantly reduced tumor burden versus untreated controls (ROM 0.09 [0.03-0.32], p < 0.001) and unmodified/mock NK-cells (ROM 0.18 [0.08-0.42], p < 0.001). Survival was significantly prolonged (MSR 1.67 [1.31-2.14] vs. control; 1.40 [1.08-1.83] vs. unmodified/mock NK, both p < 0.05). Subgroup analyses revealed no significant modifiers, though trends favored mesothelin-targeted and NK-92-based CARs. Limited safety data indicated no cytokine release syndrome or graft-versus-host disease. Small sample size in subgroup analyses and unclear RoB in certain areas are some limitations of this study. However, the pooled estimates were robust to sensitivity analyses and relatively insignificant heterogeneity in survival outcomes could be important for poor long-term survival in ovarian cancers. CAR-NK demonstrates potential pre-clinical efficacy in ovarian cancer models, outperforming naive NK-cells with a consistent survival benefit.

Indexed as

Immunotherapy, AdoptiveKiller Cells, NaturalOvarian NeoplasmsReceptors, Chimeric AntigenAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHumansTreatment OutcomeReceptors, Chimeric AntigenCAR-NKCell therapyChimeric antigen receptor therapyImmunotherapyMeta-analysisOvarian cancer

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.