CAR T-Cell Therapy: What It Is & How It Works | Medflick

Introduction

This isn't science fiction; it's CAR T-cell therapy, a treatment that rewires your immune system to find and eliminate cancer. In areas where conventional treatments are failing, this ground-breaking strategy is transforming the way we combat cancer.

With its remarkable success in treating blood cancers with tailored immunotherapy, CAR T cell therapy has completely changed the way that cancer is treated. It is one of the most recent and promising treatments for blood cancer. It combats cancer cells by using the body's own natural defences. Therefore, CAR-T therapy is intended to be a one-time treatment, in contrast to many other medical therapies for blood cancer.

Beyond blood cancers, researchers are now pushing CAR T cell therapy to target solid tumours with improved delivery, precision, and resilience in the face of tough challenges.

But who can benefit from CART-T cell therapy, and how does it work? Let's explore the science of this revolutionary treatment!
 

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Certain blood cancers can be treated with immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. This therapy functions by efficiently transforming your T lymphocytes (T cells) into cancer fighting machines. In CAR T-cell treatment, doctors introduce an additional gene that alters your cell activity and increases their capacity to identify and eliminate malignant cells. It is very effective in treating blood cancer. If it is unable to completely cure the cancer, it helps in prolonging the lives of many blood cancer patients. It is advised for the treatment of following types of blood cancer:

• B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia 
• Multiple myeloma
• Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
• High-grade B-cell lymphoma.
• Follicular lymphoma
• Mantle cell lymphoma
• Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma
   

Knowing more about T cells, which are white blood cells in your immune system, may help you comprehend better how CAR T-cell therapy functions. Your immune system tracks proteins called antigens present on the surface of invading cells to watch out for invaders, including cancer cells.

Receptors are proteins on the surface of your T cells. These receptors are able to identify cells with abnormal antigens. When a receptor identifies an aberrant cell, T cells activate, serving as a monitoring mechanism for aberrant cells. In addition to eliminating the aberrant cell, the activated T cell also triggers the other components of your immune system to assist in locating and eliminating the aberrant cell.

However, cancer cells are not always detected by your T-cell receptors. CAR T cells, which are your own T cells modified to identify a particular antigen on the surface of cancer cells. By introducing a synthetic gene for a chimeric antigen receptor, researchers can modify your T cells. They then encourage the growth and multiplication of the newly generated CAR T cells until there are sufficient cells to efficiently target cancer cells.

CAR T-cell receptors identify and eliminate cancer cells once they enter your bloodstream. Additionally, the cells continue to proliferate, ensuring that you have a steady supply of CAR T cells that are specifically targeting the cancer cells. This treatment is also called a "living drug" because of its sustained delivery and prolonged activity.
 

An intravenous line (IV) is used to administer a CAR T-cell infusion, which takes five to thirty minutes. During the procedure, you might have to stay in the hospital. 

• The CAR T cells are kept stored in controlled conditions until they are needed.
• The bag containing CAR T cells is connected to an intravenous line.
• Then CAR T cells start flowing into the bloodstream.
   

When other therapies fail or the cancer returns (recurs), CAR T-cell therapy stands as a reliable option for treating some types of blood cancer. Sometimes certain blood cancers get completely cured using CAR T-cell therapy. It can prolong the lives of many blood cancer patients.
 

Following are the hospitals that providing CAR T-Cell therapy in India:

Conclusion