Ovarian Cancer Nanovaccines: Recent Strategic Advances from Antigen Selection to Carrier Design

Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal gynecological malignancies. Its immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and peritoneal dissemination characteristics have severely limited the efficacy of existing immunotherapies. To overcome the poor immunogenicity of tumor antigens and the need for coordinated delivery of antigen and adjuvant, nanovaccines have emerged as a promising strategy. By co-delivering tumor antigens and immunologic adjuvants to antigen-presenting cells, nanovaccines can elicit specific antitumor immune responses. Recently, mRNA-2416, an mRNA-LNP vaccine encoding OX40L, completed a Phase I/II trial in patients with ovarian cancer, providing initial proof-of-concept for intratumoral administration of mRNA-based immunotherapy. This review summarizes antigen design strategies for ovarian cancer nanovaccines and compares the design principles and application progress of major carrier nanoplatforms including liposomes, polymers, inorganic nanoparticles, cell membrane-biomimetic systems, and novel smart responsive nanoplatforms. It further analyzes the core bottlenecks currently facing clinical translation and proposes potential future directions, with the aim of providing a reference for the rational design and clinical translation of ovarian cancer nanovaccines.