Research and reviews this week spotlight rapid progress in engineered cell therapies: CAR‑NK approaches are moving from innovation to clinical testing, and novel strategies are extending CAR‑T applications to central nervous system (CNS) tumors. A comprehensive 2025 review synthesizes advances that make CAR‑NK attractive—innate cytotoxicity, off‑the‑shelf potential, and improved safety profiles—while translational teams refine persistence and targeting. Parallel preclinical and early clinical work is adapting CAR‑T constructs and delivery to overcome the brain’s immunosuppressive environment and physical barriers. These developments expand the cell‑therapy toolkit beyond hematologic cancers and challenge manufacturing, dosing and safety paradigms as developers seek durable, tumor‑specific responses in solid and CNS malignancies.