CAR-T cells and cancer nanovaccines: Comparative insights into advances and translational challenges

Immunotherapy has transformed the landscape of cancer treatment, driving sustained innovation and investment across the biotechnology sector. Among the most prominent advances, CAR-T cell therapy and cancer nanovaccines have emerged as powerful and potentially complementary strategies with the capacity to reshape clinical practice. Despite their promise, each approach presents distinct strengths and limitations, as demonstrated across preclinical and clinical studies. This review provides a comparative analysis of these platforms, examining their underlying mechanisms, technological features, and recent developments aimed at improving therapeutic efficacy. Particular attention is given to the key challenges that continue to limit their broader clinical translation, including barriers associated with solid tumors, safety, scalability, and the durability of immune responses. We further integrate these discussions into translational clinical decision-making insights intended to support context-dependent patient stratification, therapeutic selection, and rational design of combination immunotherapies. By integrating these perspectives, this work offers an updated overview of CAR-T cell therapies and nanovaccines, emphasizing convergent and divergent features while outlining strategic directions to guide future research and translational development.