CAR-T cell therapy is a personalized immunotherapy that reprograms a patient’s T-cells to recognize and attack cancer. It has transformed treatment for certain blood cancers, providing hope for long-term remission in patients who have not responded to other therapies.
The process begins with T-cell collection from the patient’s blood, followed by genetic modification in the lab to produce Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs). These CARs allow T-cells to specifically recognize cancer cells. Modified cells are expanded in large numbers and infused back into the patient, where they seek and destroy cancer cells while multiplying for ongoing immune surveillance. Patients may receive lymphodepletion chemotherapy beforehand to improve CAR T-cell expansion.
FDA-approved CAR-T therapies target blood cancers such as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Side effects include cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, infections, and low blood counts, requiring close hospital monitoring. Research is ongoing to expand CAR-T to solid tumors.