Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy

John M. Pagel, MD, PhD; Howard (Jack) West, MD

JAMA Oncol. Published online September 7, 2017. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.2989

CAR T-cell therapy uses the patient’s own immune cells to personalize cancer immunotherapy.

What Is CAR T-Cell Therapy?

CAR T-cell therapy is a cancer treatment that uses a patient’s own immune system cells, called T cells, after these cells have been modified to better recognize and kill the patient’s cancer. The T cells are engineered in the laboratory and then expanded to large numbers and infused back into the patient. This type of treatment transfers an immune system into the patient that is capable of immediately killing the cancer. CAR stands for chimeric antigen receptor, which represents the genetically engineered portion of the T cell. The CAR part of the T cell contains proteins that allow the T cells to recognize the specific cancer cells as well as become highly activated to kill the cancer cells.