when the cells are isolated outside of the body, medical scientists re-engineer them to produce a protein known as a chimeric antigen receptor, or car for short. once the car t-cell has been created, it is multiplied in a lab and infused back into a patient so it can continue to grow in numbers. these synthetic proteins can identify and bind to cancer cells, targeting the diseased cells it was created to destroy.
current uses of car t-cell therapy
since it was first introduced onto the scene in 2017, car t-cell therapy has made waves in the medical world for its viability in the treatment of various cancers, including:
- b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- b-cell non-hodgkin lymphoma
- follicular lymphoma
- mantle cell lymphoma
- multiple myeloma
the u.s. food and drug administration approved six car t-cell therapies for these cancers.
in canada, however, the therapy has only been available to treat two cancers: mantle cell lymphoma and relapsed/refractory diffuse large b-cell lymphoma. the accessibility in the country is low, with only ontario, quebec, alberta, and nova scotia residents being able to access care using car t-cell therapy.
the effectiveness of a new therapy
when looking at its current uses and recent studies examining how it can be used in other ways, the efficacy of the therapy is promising but not perfect. according to
research
, each type of cancer treated has a different complete response rate, which is the percentage of people who saw success from the therapy with all signs of cancer disappearing. the number of patients seeing success based on their cancers include: