OverviewA new type of cancer treatment has been tested in a patient for the first time anywhere in the world. Doctors gave 58-year-old Tracy Tomlinson, who has advanced ovarian cancer, an experimental immune cell therapy called ZI-MA4-1 as part of a Phase 1 clinical trial at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK. Unlike chemotherapy, which kills both cancer cells and some healthy cells, ZI-MA4-1 uses specially modified Natural Killer (NK) immune cells to find and destroy cancer cells carrying a protein called MAGE-A4, while causing less harm to healthy tissues. This means the immune cells come from healthy donors and are prepared and stored in advance, instead of being made separately for each patient. Researchers believe this could help patients start treatment faster, lower costs and make advanced cancer therapies available to more people.