What is CAR-T therapy or adoptive cell transfer?
CAR T-cell therapy is a cancer treatment that involves modifying a patient’s T cells in the lab to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that enable the T cells to specifically recognize and attack cancer cells, primarily used for certain blood cancers like B cell lymphoma and leukemia, especially when traditional treatments fail or cancer recurs.
CAR T-Cell therapy is a type of cancer treatment where a patient’s T cells are modified in the laboratory so that they will attack cancer cells. T-cells are a type of white blood cell that work with macrophages, which is a type of white blood cell related to infection.
T-cells are taken from a patient’s blood, and these T-cells are modified to include a special receptor that binds to particular sites on a patient’s cancer cells. Such receptors are called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR), and large quantities of CAR-T cells are produced in the laboratory and administered by infusion.
This treatment is used for particular blood cancers and is a significant area of research for the treatment of other types of cancer as well.
How does CAR T-cell therapy work?
CAR T-cell therapy causes T-cells to target substances the body identifies as harmful known as antigens, located on the surface of certain types of cancer cells. A protein is added to the surface of T-cells to provide this targeting capability, which is achieved during the manufacturing of CAR T-cells. This protein is the namesake of CAR T-cell therapy and is called a chimeric antigen receptor or CAR protein.
The CAR protein is made up of 3 separate proteins:
- One that identifies antigens on the cancer cell
- Two that signal the T-cell to activate during the attachment of the first protein to the antigen of the cancer cell
What cancers can be treated with CAR T-cell therapy?
Different cancers may be treated with CAR T-cell therapy, especially cancers of the blood and lymphatic system. CAR T-cell therapy is most frequently administered if traditional cancer treatments are ineffective or if the cancer reappears. Some examples of treatments include:
- B cell lymphoma
- Mantle cell lymphoma
- Leukemia and recurrent large B cell lymphoma
- Reoccurring B cell lymphoma
However, these are only the cancers that currently have approved CAR T-cell therapies. Many other types of cancer are undergoing ongoing clinical trials that include:
- Lung cancer
- Liver cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Colon/colorectal cancer
- Ovarian cancer
Related
Comparing CAR T-cell and chemotherapy for cancer treatment
CAR T-cell therapy, a novel immunotherapy modifying patients' T-cells to target cancer cells, shows promising long-lasting remission especially in blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, whereas chemotherapy, a widely used drug-based treatment effective across many cancer types but with severe side effects, remains more established, making the choice between them dependent on cancer type, stage, patient health, and treatment response.
When should patients receive CAR T-cell therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy, a potent but costly and time-intensive cancer treatment with significant immune-related side effects, is generally reserved as a last resort for patients with specific cancers like leukemia and lymphoma who have not responded to other therapies or are ineligible for alternative treatments.
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