Chimeric antigen receptor therapy or CAR T-cell therapy is an emerging
immunotherapy designed specifically to target a patient's cancer cells. To date,
the most successful of these therapies CD19 CAR therapy targets B cells in
Leukemia and Lymphoma. A patient begins treatment by undergoing apheresis to
extract normal T-cells. In the laboratory, a modified virus either a lentivirus or
retrovirus transfers targeted genetic information into the T-cells where it is
incorporated into the genome. Newly synthesized CD19 CAR proteins are then
expressed on the T-cells surface. The altered T-cells are expanded in vitro
and delivered to the patient by infusion. In the body, the engineered receptors
bind to specific antigens expressed by the target cancer cells, killing them.
With hundreds of trials currently being conducted worldwide, engineered cell
therapies like CAR T-cell therapy have the potential to transform treatment for
cancer and other diseases.