CAR T-Cell Therapy is an exciting new treatment that uses the body's immune system to destroy cancerous cells. But how is CAR-T Therapy used to treat multiple myeloma? immune system's main soldier in fighting off viruses and bacteria is the T-cell. Unfortunately, the body's T-cells aren't typically strong enough to fight off myeloma cells, but scientists have recently been able to extract T-cells from a patient's body, modify them, and then reinsert them back into the patient. The process is typically as follows:
- T-cells are taken from a patient's blood.
- Then the gene for a special receptor that binds to a specific protein on the patient's cancer cells is added to the T-cells in the laboratory. The special receptor is called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR).
- Large numbers of the CAR T-cells are grown in the laboratory and given back to the patient.
Preliminary evidence has shown that these modified CAR T-Cells have a powerful impact at eradicating myeloma cells in a way that hasn't been possible with the existing treatment regimen. "It's not available yet as an FDA-approved treatment, but there are multiple centers doing this as a clinical trial," says Dr. Nina Shah, hematologist at UCSF. "We're really excited and hope that we can make this more available for as many patients as possible."
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