CAR T-Cell Therapy
Also known as: chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, Kymriah.
What is CAR T-cell Therapy?
Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is now offering cutting-edge immune effector cell therapy for children and young adults with leukemia and lymphoma.
One of these treatments, known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy uses a patient's own immune system cells to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and certain types of solid tumors.
The Nicklaus Children's Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute is an approved treatment facility to deliver the FDA approved CAR- T-cell therapy called Kymriah to children with certain types of pediatric cancers
Who is a candidate for CAR T-cell therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy is currently approved by the FDA to treat patients up to 25 years of age who have been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and B cell lymphoma who have not responded to conventional treatment. ALL is the most common form of pediatric cancer.
While the survival rate for ALL is high, patients who relapse or become refractory pose a challenge to the families and medical team. CAR T-cell therapy can be a game changer for this patient population.
What can CAR T-cell therapy potentially do?
Patients with recurrent or “refractory” leukemia have a decreased chance of survival with repetition of prior treatment and may be candidates for stem cell transplantation. With CAR-T cell therapy; these same patients have a greater chance of remission following this therapy.
How does CAR T-cell therapy work?
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell Therapy (CAR T-cell therapy) – under a broader spectrum of rapidly growing Immuno-effector cell therapy is an emerging approach that is tailored to each individual patient. It harnesses the power of the patient’s immune system (lymphocytes), reprogramming cells to seek out and destroy cancer cells.
How can I learn more about CAR T-cell Therapy?
If you would like to learn more about CAR T-cell therapy and how it might help your child, please contact the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Reviewed by: Jorge Galvez Silva, MD
This page was last updated on: March 30, 2023 02:24 PM
June 10, 2021 – Nicklaus Children's Hospital is one of the only hospitals in Florida, and the first pediatric hospital in South Florida, to offer the latest immune cell treatment for children and adolescents with certain types of leukemia. The Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute at Nicklaus Children's Hospital is authorized to deliver the FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy to the pediatric population.