Kansas City, KS - CAR T-cell therapy has transformed treatment for some blood cancers, offering some patients the possibility of long-term remission and even cure. On Open Mics with Dr. Stites, experts from The University of Kansas Cancer Center explain what’s standing in the way and the work underway to bring CAR T closer to patients, including those in rural communities. We’ll also share the story of Michael Fong, whose non-Hodgkin lymphoma returned after previous treatment and who is now enrolled in a CAR T clinical trial called Triple Threat.
Michael Fong, Patient
- Michael was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019 and later received a stem cell transplant and CAR T-cell therapy before his cancer returned.
- The Triple Threat clinical trial uses CAR T-cells designed to recognize three different targets on cancer cells rather than relying on a single target.
- Michael says his experience with the treatment was surprisingly manageable, even allowing him to continue to work.
- Dr. McGuirk says Michael is currently in complete remission and will continue to be monitored.
Dr. Joseph McGuirk, Dir. Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- He explains how CAR T therapy involves removing a patient's immune cells, genetically reengineering them to recognize cancer and returning them to the patient to attack the disease.
- He explains the Triple Threat clinical trial. Cancer cells can evade a CAR T therapy aimed at one target, so researchers are testing CAR T cells capable of recognizing three different targets.
Dr. Al-Ola Abdallah, Dir. Of The Plasma Cell Disorder Program, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
Dr. Abdallah says improving CAR T access requires greater education, communication and collaboration among patients, community physicians and cellular therapy centers.
- He explains how CAR T has rapidly moved earlier in the treatment of multiple myeloma from a last-line option just years ago to second-line therapy today, with research already exploring its use as a first-line treatment.
- He discusses emerging “off-the-shelf” CAR T therapy which could dramatically reduce the weeks patients currently may wait for personalized cells to be manufactured.
