A simple definition for those who didn't know. What are CAR T-Cell Therapies?
CAR T-cell therapies are a type of treatment in which a patient's T cells (a type of immune system cell) are changed in the laboratory so that they will attack cancer cells.1 The general approach for CAR T-cell therapy is similar to ex vivo methods for cell-based therapies.2 Blood from a vein in the patient’s arm flows through a tube to an apheresis machine, which removes the white blood cells, including the T cells, and sends the rest of the blood back to the patient. Then, the gene for a special receptor called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is inserted into the T cells in the laboratory. The CAR T cells are grown in the laboratory and then given to the patient by infusion, and then bind to an antigen on the cancer cells and kill them.3