CAR T-Cell Therapy

T-cells are white blood cells that are part of the acquired immune system. These cells attack foreign invaders. T cell are being modified to find and destroy cancerous cells. It is called Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (American Cancer Society). These T-cells are changed in the lab by adding a man-made receptor. The receptor helps the the T-cell better recognize the antigen of the cancerous cells. This therapy is specific to the patient because they are required to create T-cells that are specific to the cancerous cells’ antigens using that patient’s T-cells.

CAR T-cell therapy is used strictly on patients with advanced blood cancers according to the National Cancer Institute. The FDA approved two CAR T-cell therapies in 2017. One treatment benefits children with acute lymphoblastinc leukemia and the other one adults with advanced lymphomas. One of the side effect of this cancer therapy is Cytokine Release Syndrome. Cytokines in large amounts can cause high fevers and sudden drops in blood pressure. Though this is a dangerous side effect, it demonstrate that active T-cell are working. The cost of CAR T-Cell therapy is very expensive reaching an average of $370,000 (Ash Clinical News).

After reading these articles, I am very happy to know that medical advances are giving hope to those that chemotherapy did not work for. This brings us a step closer to finding a cure for cancer. I am sadden to find out how much the therapy costs. Though there are some patients that can afford it, most of our population can’t. I think more effort should be put on making CAR T-cell therapy more affordable. People should have access to these therapies that could save their lives.