If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with cancer, you may have heard about a new cancer treatment, called CAR (chimeric antigen receptors) T-Cell therapy, and may be wondering what it is and what impact it may have on cancer treatment.
CAR T-Cells are genetically modified to help the immune system recognize and fight cancer. The immune system rids the body of abnormal cells that are foreign or infected and T-lymphocytes (T-cells) are a type of cell responsible for killing abnormal cells. First, T-cells communicate directly with each cell to see if they are developing normally. If a cell is abnormal, T-cells are designed to send signals that cue the immune system to kill them. However, cancer cells know how to hide from these fighter T-cells. Specially modified T-cells, known as CAR (chimeric antigen receptors) T-Cells are made by collecting a patient's T-lymphocytes and inserting a gene into the cells that produces a protein on the cell surface that allows tumor cell recognition.
Three Sarah Cannon affiliated sites across the U.S. will offer a clinical trial designed to investigate the use of these cells in fighting cancer. Clinical trials, like this one, may help determine new therapies. For more information about CAR T-Cell Therapy and trials at Sarah Cannon, contact askSARAH at 1.877.691.7274.
Learn more about CAR T-Cell therapy from Dr. David Spigel, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at Sarah Cannon Research Institute on Fox News .