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What Is CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy?
CAR T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy), is an advanced cancer treatment that genetically programs a patient’s own T cells—a type of white blood cell that fights illness and infection—to better target and destroy cancer cells. CAR T was the first gene therapy approved by the FDA and holds the promise of a new era of cancer treatment options.
Developed by work led at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, groundbreaking CAR T immunotherapy treatment is now available in Lancaster from the team at the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute.
How CAR T Therapy Works
CAR T-cell therapy gives the immune system a boost to help it fight cancer. The process starts by collecting blood from a patient with cancer. T cells are extracted from the blood and taken to lab where they are re-engineered with new receptors (CAR) that recognize and attack cancer cells. The patient’s reprogrammed T cells are returned frozen from the lab. When the patient’s own frozen cells are returned, they are re-warmed and immediately reinfused just as a person receives a blood transfusion.
Once CAR T cells are infused into the body they immediately search for, attach to, and destroy cancer cells in every part of the body.
Who Can Benefit from CAR T-Cell Therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy is FDA-approved for patient with aggressive lymphoma that has not responded to one or more therapies:
- Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the U.S.
- Mantle Cell and Follicular Lymphomas, two other non-Hodgkin lymphomas
- Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells
- Acute and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
The Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute provides CAR T-cell therapy in Lancaster for adult patients with DLBCL. For other adult diseases which can be treated with CAR T, and for experimental CAR T therapies, Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute patients are treated at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia.
Penn Medicine is also studying CAR T therapy for other forms of cancer and is enrolling appropriate patients into clinical trials.
CAR T for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is one of two categories of lymphoma, a type of blood cell and lymph node cancer. It spreads through the lymphatic system randomly and tends to affect people over the age of 60. It can grow and spread slowly (known as indolent lymphomas) or more aggressively. The recovery rate for non-Hodgkin lymphoma depends on the specific type.
Kymriah™ brand CAR T therapy is approved to treat adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)—the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)—as well as high grade B-cell lymphoma and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma.
Request an Appointment at Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute
To make an appointment at the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, call 717-544-9400 or request an appointment using our online form.
Additional Treatment Options Offered in Philadelphia
CAR T for Multiple Myeloma
There are now two FDA approved CAR T therapies for multiple myeloma, both available at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. Learn more information or request an appointment.
CAR T for Pediatric and Young Adult Leukemia
This treatment is available at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia and at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). For more information or to schedule a consultation, please call 215-316-5127. If you or a loved one has acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is under 18 years old, CHOP may be able to help. You can reach the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at CHOP at 267-426-0762.