What is CAR T-cell therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that uses your own immune system to fight leukemia. It's sometimes called a "living drug" or "personalized therapy" because it's created specifically from your own cells.
Here's how it works:
* T cells (white blood cells that fight infection and Show Full Answer
What is CAR T-cell therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that uses your own immune system to fight leukemia. It's sometimes called a "living drug" or "personalized therapy" because it's created specifically from your own cells.
Here's how it works:
* T cells (white blood cells that fight infection and cancer) are collected from your blood through a process similar to donating blood
* These T cells are sent to a lab where they're genetically modified to add special proteins called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs)
* The CARs act like a GPS system, helping the modified T cells find and destroy cancer cells more effectively
* Once modified, the cells are infused back into your body where they seek out and attack leukemia cells
The collection process, called leukapheresis, takes a few hours. The modification in the lab can take anywhere from less than a week to several weeks.
Several CAR T-cell therapies are FDA-approved for different types of leukemia, including Kymriah for young people with B-cell ALL and Tecartus for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL.
While CAR T-cell therapy has shown promising results—with some studies showing up to 90% remission rates in people whose leukemia didn't respond to other treatments—it can cause side effects and isn't right for everyone.
March 21
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