Peking University, September 8, 2025: Peking University scientists have developed a groundbreaking cancer therapy that could make life-saving treatment accessible to any patient, anywhere. A team led by Professor Wei Wensheng from Peking University, collaborating with the PLA General Hospital and biotech company EdiGene Inc., has developed a novel cancer therapy that could make advanced treatment accessible to many more patients. Their study was published in Cell on August 21, 2025.


Why it matters
CAR-T therapy is one of the most exciting breakthroughs in cancer treatment. It works by taking a patient’s own immune cells, reprogramming them to recognize cancer, and putting them back into the body to fight the disease. Many patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood cancers have seen dramatic recoveries thanks to this method.

But there are big problems: it takes weeks to prepare each patient’s treatment, it is very expensive, and some very sick patients don’t have healthy cells to work with. Scientists have long dreamed of an “off-the-shelf” version of CAR-T made from healthy donor cells so treatment could be ready right away. The challenge is that the body usually rejects donor cells, or the donor cells attack the patient, making them unsafe.

Key findings
The Peking University-led team discovered a way around this barrier. By removing a single gene, they gave donor CAR-T cells a kind of protective coating, like armor. This coating helps the cells hide from the patient’s immune system, avoid being destroyed, and survive longer.

In both lab tests and early patient trials, these modified cells were just as powerful at killing cancer as regular CAR-T cells. Importantly, they stayed in the body for months without causing dangerous side effects.

Future implications
This research shows that safe and effective universal CAR-T therapies are possible. If further trials succeed, cancer patients may one day receive ready-made treatments that are faster, cheaper, and more widely available, bringing hope to people who previously had no options. 

*This article is featured in PKU News "Why It Matters" series. More from this series.
Read more: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00910-9

Written by: Pralhad Gupta
Edited by: Chen Shizhuo
Source: PKU News (Chinese)