Scientists Crack Ovarian Cancer's Immunotherapy Code

Researchers find way to boost immune system's ability to recognize and attack ovarian tumors.

Published on Mar. 6, 2026

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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the University of California San Diego have published findings demonstrating a treatment approach in mice that allowed more tumor-fighting cells to approach ovarian tumors, shifted the behavior of other immune cells to work against tumors, and made immunotherapy more effective. The research team uncovered that genetic mutations causing an overabundance of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) protein in ovarian cancer cells helps protect them from the immune system, but blocking FAK can circumvent these safeguards.

Why it matters

Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult-to-treat forms of cancer, in part because the cancer cells are able to suppress the body's immune response. This new research provides a potential path to make immunotherapies more effective against ovarian tumors by targeting the FAK protein that helps the cancer evade the immune system.

The details

The researchers used an aggressive, chemotherapy-resistant ovarian mouse tumor model to test various drug combinations. Combining a FAK-blocking drug with both chemotherapy and immunotherapy achieved the best effects, improving immune cell recruitment, reducing tumor size, and increasing survival time. The team found that inhibiting FAK changed the chemical signals sent by immune cells called macrophages, causing them to better coordinate the immune system's response and recruit more tumor-fighting B and T cells.

  • The findings were published on February 25, 2026 in the journal Cell Reports.

The players

David Schlaepfer

A professor in the department of OBGYN and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center and the senior and corresponding author of the study.

Kevin Tharp

An assistant professor in the NCI-designated Cancer Center's Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the second author of the study.

Xiao Lei Chen

A staff research associate III at the University of California San Diego and the first author of the publication.

Sanford Burnham Prebys

A medical research institute that collaborated on the study.

University of California San Diego

A university that collaborated on the study through its Moores Cancer Center.

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What they’re saying

“Even if you boost the capability of immune cells, a treatment will have limited success if the cells struggle to recognize and react to the tumor.”

— David Schlaepfer, Professor

“Once it was established that genetically or pharmacologically targeting FAK improved the ability of the immune system to recognize and attack ovarian tumor models, then we needed to figure out how this worked.”

— Kevin Tharp, Assistant Professor

“With FAK blocked, the macrophages that coordinate the immune system's response to a tumor started assisting other immune cells in recognizing and targeting the tumor.”

— Kevin Tharp, Assistant Professor

“The moment high grade serous ovarian cancer becomes metastatic, it's too distributed throughout the body for you to really do anything but recruit the immune system. I think that this represents an important treatment opportunity for patients who have progressed and not responded to the standard of care. It's an extreme clinical need.”

— Kevin Tharp, Assistant Professor

“I'm grateful to have found such a welcoming and supportive collaborator in David Schlaepfer, and it also speaks the collaborative nature of science in San Diego where we work across institutions on the shared mission of studying cancer to find better treatments.”

— Kevin Tharp, Assistant Professor

What’s next

The authors say that further research is needed to set the stage for potential clinical trials of combination therapies using FAK inhibitors, chemotherapies and immunotherapies.

The takeaway

This research provides a promising new approach to making immunotherapies more effective against ovarian cancer, a particularly difficult-to-treat form of cancer, by targeting the FAK protein that helps the cancer evade the immune system. The collaborative work between multiple research institutions highlights the importance of interdisciplinary efforts to advance cancer treatment.