What is CAR-T cell Therapy?
One of the most recent developments in treating blood cancer, this option is quite successful in improving the health outcomes for patients with blood cancers. This is only effective for advanced cancers, where it can completely help the patient be cancer-free.
What makes this therapy so exciting for the medical community? It’s different from other immunotherapies primarily in that it poses lower risks - as the therapy uses the patient’s own cells instead of a foreign object that’s more likely to be rejected immediately by the immune system. Thus, leading to severe allergic reactions that can be lethal for the patient.
It is also known as a “living drug” due to the prolonged effect, which persists for life.
Why Would Someone Need CAR T-cell Therapy?
Someone who has undergone the traditional therapies for blood cancer and hasn’t seen great improvements, such as recurrence. In these cases, a person can expect better results with CAR T-cell therapy.
This immunotherapy is not the same as stem cell therapy or bone marrow transplant; neither does it match the requirements of chemotherapy. CAR T-cell therapy is a novel therapy option that can be very effective - much more than traditional options in cases of blood cancer treatment.
What Conditions Can This Therapy Treat?
The therapy mainly treats blood cancers of the following types:
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ALL or Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
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Different lymphomas (such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma)
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Leukemias
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Multiple myeloma (Under investigation)
The condition is also under investigation for other blood cancers such as mantle cell lymphoma, High-grade B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma, among other types.
Requirements & Evaluation for the Therapy
To be eligible for the therapy, you must meet the following criteria:
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Cancer diagnosis that has relapsed after other treatment
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Adequate cardiac, organ and pulmonary (lung) functions
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Patients with DLBCL that has not responded or relapsed to the first line of treatment.
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Therapy must have a proteasome inhibitor or anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.
Evaluation:
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Neurology evaluation and consultation are necessary to check neurotoxicity.
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Cardiac, organ, and pulmonary function tests.
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Type and stage of cancer
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Overall health and status of the immune system
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Dental check to avoid infections
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Blood tests, electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, MRI, PET and CT scans to assess the cancer’s response and patient’s condition.
