CAR T-Cell Therapy and Advanced Cellular Treatments for Blood Cancers.

For many patients facing a blood cancer diagnosis, the journey includes familiar stops: chemotherapy, radiation, or antibody treatments. But when these traditionally effective medicines can no longer control the disease, the Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital can help.

Partnering with patients, our expert teams find the right path through these complicated conditions. MedStar Georgetown has the region’s only adult program accredited by the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) for autologous transplant, allogeneic transplant, and cellular immunotherapy (CAR T-cell therapy). This stamp of approval means that every step of your care meets the most rigorous global standards for cellular therapy patient care. 

Building upon this excellence, our program specializes in the most advanced treatments available today, including the revolutionary treatment of CAR T-cell therapy.

What is CAR T-cell therapy?

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a breakthrough therapy for adults with some types of blood disorders. We consider this option for patients whose cancer has returned (relapsed) or has not responded (is refractory) after prior therapy.

MedStar Georgetown offers six FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies. 

The goal of cellular immunotherapy is to help patients move beyond temporary disease control and toward long-term remission and potential cures. For patients with relapsed or refractory blood cancers, studies have shown durable remission lasting five years or longer. 

We use this advanced therapy to treat several primary conditions, including:

• Lymphomas, including high-grade B-cell lymphoma such as diffuse large B cell lymphoma and others, follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, or and marginal zone lymphoma

• Multiple myeloma

• Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

How CAR T-cell therapy works.

CAR T-cell therapy is the process of collecting, training, and re-infusing your immune cells to target specific cancer markers. 

The process centers on T-cells, the natural “soldiers” of the immune system. During manufacturing, these cells are genetically modified and equipped with “CAR” receptors. These act like a GPS system, enabling the T-cells to seek and destroy cancer cells that have the target.

Related: Read "Managing Multiple Myeloma: How Effective Treatments Improve Life with Blood Cancer."

What to expect from CAR T-cell therapy.

Getting CAR T-cell therapy requires several important steps:

Life-saving options beyond CAR T-cells.

CAR T-cell therapy is the next frontier, but it’s only one part of a broad spectrum of care. Additional cellular therapies include:

• Autologous stem cell transplant: We collect and freeze your own blood-making stem cells, then re-infuse them to support your bone marrow after high-dose chemotherapy. The high-dose chemotherapy is used to cure many types of lymphoma and give patients with multiple myeloma deep, hopefully long remissions. This high dose chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant is often used for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and for many B- and T-cell lymphomas.

• Allogenic hematopoietic cell transplant: Some blood cancers, including many types of leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome can’t be cured with chemotherapy or other drug-based therapies. As a potential cure for many blood cancers, we can use cells from a healthy donor to use the donor’s immune cells seek and destroy cancer cells remaining after treatment.