FDA Approves Second CAR T-Cell Therapy for Lymphoma Patients
CAR T-cell therapy uses specially altered T cells — which are part of the body’s immune system — to fight cancer.
CAR T-cell therapy
Using A Bold Strategy to Enhance CAR T-Cell Therapies
Boston-based researchers hope to optimize CAR T-cell therapies to target DIPG, aggressive and difficult-to-treat brain tumors, and other tough-to-treat cancers.
How is Gene Therapy Being Used to Treat Cancer and Other Diseases?
Gene therapy is a way of treating or preventing disease by altering the genetic instructions within an individual’s cells.
How Treatment Works for CAR T-Cell Therapy Patients
CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses specially modified T cells — part of the body’s defense system against disease — to attack cancer. It involves collecting T cells from a patient and genetically modifying them to recognize cancer cells. Reinfused into the patient, CAR T cells can spark a potent immune … Read more
What is a Living Drug?
“Living” drugs consist of fully functional cells that have been selected and often modified to treat specific diseases, such as cancer. CAR T-cell therapy and therapeutic vaccines fall into this category.
Refractory Cancer: What It Is and It is Treated
What does “refractory” mean medically? The word “refractory” in general use means stubborn or intractable, and in medicine it is specifically applied to disease that does not respond to treatment. Refractory cancer refers to cancer that may be resistant at the beginning of treatment, or becomes resistant during treatment. “We would consider disease refractory if … Read more
What is ‘Chimeric’ Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy
One of the most exciting new cancer treatments, CAR T-cell therapy takes its complicated name, in part, from a fire-breathing monster in an ancient Greek myth. CAR is an acronym for “chimeric antigen receptor,” referring to genetically engineered molecules manufactured in a laboratory, inserted into the genetic material of immune T cells that have been removed from … Read more
How Gene Therapy Works in Treating Cancer and Other Conditions
There are many types of gene therapy, but all of them involve adding to or modifying the genetic program in a person – his or her DNA blueprint that provides instructions for building and operating the body. Gene therapy technology has been developed over several decades and has been successfully used to correct rare blood … Read more
CAR T-Cell Therapy: Is It Right For You?
CAR T-cell therapy is a cancer treatment in which a patient’s immune system T cells are genetically modified to mount a more effective attack on cancer. As of May 2018, CAR T-cell therapy has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as standard therapy for some adult patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma that has relapsed after … Read more
Cancer Treatment: A Look at How It Has Evolved in 70 Years
In 1947, when Dana-Farber Cancer Institute founder Sidney Farber, MD, set out to find a drug treatment for childhood leukemia, cancer treatment took two forms – surgery to cut out cancerous masses, and radiation therapy to burn them out. Cancers that couldn’t be removed or irradiated – either because of their position in the body, because … Read more
CAR T-Cell Therapy for Lymphoma: What You Need to Know
CAR T-cell therapy, like all forms of cancer immunotherapy, seeks to sharpen and strengthen the immune system’s inherent cancer-fighting powers. It involves treating patients with modified versions of their own immune system T cells — white blood cells that help protect the body from disease. CAR T-cell therapy has been approved by the U.S. Food … Read more
FDA Approves CAR T-Cell Therapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
A drug called Axicabtagene ciloleucel (KTE-C19) has become the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approved to treat a form of cancer in adults, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today. The decision means the drug, known as Yescarta, can now be used for some adults with refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The FDA ruling in … Read more
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: What’s New in Treatment? [Webchat]
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the two major subtypes of lymphoma, and about 72,000 people will be diagnosed with this cancer by the end of 2017, according to the American Cancer Society. There are more than 50 types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma – including B-cell and T-cell lymphomas, as well as fast-growing and slow-growing lymphomas. There … Read more
CAR T-Cell Therapy Gives Cancer Patients New Hope
Judy Wilkins tried four different chemotherapy regiments over 18 grueling months to try to put her lymphoma into remission. Her team never could. But thanks to CAR T-cell therapy, an emerging immunotherapy treatment that is showing great promise in clinical trials nationwide, Wilkins is cancer-free. CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) T-cell therapy is a form of cellular … Read more
Stem Cell Transplants and Cellular Therapies: What’s the Difference?
Donor stem cell transplants and other cellular therapies are treatment approaches that harness the immune system to fight cancer using cells from the patient or from healthy donors. What are stem cell transplants? Stem cell transplants are used to treat blood-related cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, as well as certain non-cancerous blood … Read more
FDA Gives First-Ever Approval to CAR T-Cell Therapy
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that a drug called CTL019 has become the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approved to treat a form of cancer. The decision means the drug can be used as standard therapy for the treatment of pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) … Read more
What Are The Side Effects of CAR T-Cell Therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy in which patients’ T cells are modified to become better at tracking down and destroying tumor cells. CAR T cells are made by extracting thousands of a patient’s T cells, sending them to a lab where they’re outfitted with genes and proteins that improve their cancer-fighting prowess, and … Read more
Catch Me if You Can: Finding Cancer Cells that Hide in Plain Sight
In the high-stakes contest of hide-and-seek between cancer cells and the human immune system, the advantage doesn’t always lie with the body’s defenders. A new approach to treatment, known as CAR T-cell therapy, may shift that balance of power. Cancer cells conceal themselves from the immune system not by barricading themselves in an impenetrable shell, … Read more
What is CAR T-Cell Therapy and How Does It Work?
CAR T-cell therapy is a kind of cellular therapy, which uses a patient’s own immune system T cells to rally an attack on cancer. CAR T cells are made by removing T cells from the blood, modifying them in a lab to intensify the immune system’s natural response to cancer, and re-injecting them into the patient. CAR … Read more
What’s New in Pediatric Brain Tumor Research and Care?
Mark W. Kieran, MD, PhD, director of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, spoke to pediatric patient families in a recent Facebook Live Webchat addressing pediatric brain tumor care. Kieran answered questions from audience members about the most common of the 300 brain tumor types that occur in children, including … Read more