CAR T-cell therapy was named by the American Society of Clinical Oncology as the 2018 Advance of the Year. CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy called “adoptive cell immunotherapy.” This type of immunotherapy allows doctors to genetically reprogram patients’ own immune cells to find and attack cancer cells throughout the body. This video describes CAR T-cell therapy, including what it is and how it works.
More Information
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Transcript:
ASCO ® American Society of Clinical Oncology
CAR T-Cell Therapy: ASCO's Advance of the Year
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CAR T-cell therapy, which is a type of adoptive cell immunotherapy, is custom-made for each patient from their own white blood cells. First, the patient's T cells are collected from their blood. Then an artificial gene for a specific receptor is inserted into these cells in a laboratory. These modified cells are called CAR T cells. After the CAR T cells multiply in the lab, they are injected into the patient. The receptors on the CAR T cells help them find and destroy cancer cells throughout the patient's body.
In 2017 the FDA approved two CAR T-cell therapies for use in different cancers, and there are more CAR T-cell therapies that appear very promising for additional cancers.
Unlike most cancer treatments, CAR T-cell therapy typically needs to be given only once because CAR T cells multiply in the patient's body, with their anti-cancer effects persisting and even increasing over time.
In 2018, the American Society of Clinical Oncology named CAR T-cell therapy the Advance of the Year.
ASCO ® American Society of Clinical Oncology
2018 Advance of the Year: CAR T-Cell Therapy