CAR T-Cell Therapy
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Facing cancer is difficult and scary. When treatments don't work, it's even more devastating.
CAR T-cell therapy offers hope when other treatments fail.
CAR T-Cell Therapy at UVA Health
UVA Health offers FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy for adults with aggressive B-cell lymphomas.
This treatment is for people who:
- Don't respond to other treatments
- Have their cancer come back
- Are healthy enough to undergo treatment and deal with possible side effects
We also offer CAR T-cell therapy in other cases through clinical trials.
How Does CAR T-Cell Therapy Work?
A type of cancer immunotherapy, CAR-T supercharges your immune cells to better destroy cancer cells. The therapy happens in 2 phases.
We Modify Your T-Cells
- First, we collect your T-cells.
- We then add to your T-cells. We change them to include a gene with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). The CAR reprograms your T-cells to seek out a particular type of cancer cell and destroy it. This process takes 3-6 weeks.
We Infuse Your Changed T-Cells
- Before you get the new cells, we'll give you some chemotherapy. This helps the new cells work better.
- When ready, we infuse the changed T-cells into your blood.
Within a week, the CAR T-cells multiply to make up 70-90% of the T-cells in your body. The new T-cells seek out and destroy cancer cells.
How CAR T-Cell Is Different
CAR T-cell therapy treats cancer using modified cells in your own blood to destroy specific cancer cells. Learn what sets this innovative therapy apart from other treatments.
CAR T-cell therapy is a cutting-edge therapy which is currently being used for treating patients with lymphomas and leukemias that are resistant to many other forms of therapy. This is an extremely exciting therapy because it looks at a totally different niche of our own system. CAR-T cell therapy is unlike any other chemotherapy, or other targeted therapies that we have used before. To put it in a very simple fashion, the patient's T cells are taken from their blood. This process is very similar to a blood donation. It does not involve any pain for the patient. And these T cells are processed in a lab. They're made to be more strong. When they are given back to the patient, which is again, the form of a blood transfusion, they immediately recognize the tumor and destroy the tumor. We have many other clinicians who are experienced in taking care of patients who have received the CAR T cell therapy, and we are also the only institution that is able to provide this therapy, both on the basis of trials, and with the commercial product in the state of Virginia, which makes us really unique.
Outpatient Option & Recovery
Almost all patients return to normal life within a few weeks.
Children and some adults need to recover in the hospital for 1-2 weeks.
But for select adult patients, we offer CAR T-cell treatment on an outpatient basis. You won't need a hospital stay. You’ll receive treatment during visits to the infusion center at UVA Health’s Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center.
Find out what to expect during infusion.
A Second Chance With CAR T-Cell
When chemotherapy and other treatments failed, Bob's family feared the worst. But CAR T-cell therapy gave him another way to fight his cancer.
Managing Side Effects
Having a high number of active T-cells in your body is risky. You may have side effects.
You could experience:
- Fever, body aches, and fatigue, or cytokine release syndrome (CRS)
- Serious life-threatening symptoms, such as low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and trouble breathing
- Nervous system issues, like tremor, problems talking, confusion, or seizure
We're experts at recognizing and helping manage all side effects from CAR T.
CAR T-Cell Therapy for Kids
Read about CAR T-cell therapy for children.