CAR T-Cell Therapy

Join UCLA pediatric oncologist Satiro De Oliveira, MD, for a discussion about CAR T-cell therapy for pediatric patients, including indications, plan of care, side effects, risks and benefits.

 

Watch the webinar in full screen and ask a question via Facebook Live.

 

UCLA CAR T Cell Therapy

 

UCLA doctors and researchers have been pioneers in immunotherapy and continue to be at the forefront of cancer treatments and discoveries in precision health. UCLA Health is one of the first centers in the nation to offer CAR T-cell therapy.

 

What is CAR T-cell therapy?

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has approved Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), a CAR T-cell therapy treatment for adults with certain types of lymphoma for whom other therapies have proved ineffective. As with every type of cancer treatment, there are potential side effects. UCLA clinicians and staff participated in the clinical trials, prior to FDA approval, and have experience and expertise in the management of these risks.

 

What is immunotherapy?

 

Immunotherapy is one of the most recent breakthroughs that enable doctors to treat certain types of cancer. Researchers, including those at UCLA, have discovered ways to make a patient’s own immune system fight cancer cells.

 

Immunotherapy is a new treatment category that is different from established cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and transplant. At UCLA Health, clinical experts in every type of cancer therapy integrate the best treatment strategies, including immunotherapy, to help develop the best treatment plans for each patient.

 

Innovative Treatment CAR T-cell

 

CAR T-cells are genetically altered immune cells designed to attack cancer cells. T cells (central components of the immune system) are taken from a patient’s bloodstream, modified to bind to a specific protein found on cancer cells and then placed back into the patient’s system, where the modified T cells can attack the cancer cells. The major difference to established treatments is that this approach enables a patient’s own immune system to fight his or her cancer cells.

 

Highlights of our program include:

 

Expertise: Physicians and researchers at UCLA Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have deep knowledge of, and experience with, advancing cancer therapies. Our researchers helped optimize delivery of CAR T-cell therapy, and our participation in multiple CAR T-cell clinical trials helped prove the effectiveness of this therapy for aggressive B-cell lymphomas. The UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center holds an international reputation for providing the best in experimental and traditional cancer treatments and expertly guiding the next generation of medical research.

Collaboration: Patients at UCLA Health benefit from the close collaboration between our world-class researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and our expert physicians specializing in patient-focused care. Our multidisciplinary team of clinicians specialize in treating patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy and include hematologists/oncologists, pulmonologists and cardiologists.

Research: UCLA doctors and scientists continue to lead research on the long-term effectiveness of immunotherapies, including adoptive cell therapies and antibody therapies (such as checkpoint blockage therapies). Our research aims to understand why some patients respond better than others to current immunotherapies, to test combination therapies, and to improve the effectiveness of novel therapies.

Treatment options: In addition to providing FDA-approved cancer therapies that enhance the immune system, UCLA offers many immunotherapy clinical trials. These technologies include antibodies, vaccines and other medicines designed to stimulate the immune system to attack various types of cancer. Your oncologist can help you determine the best treatment option for you.

 

For more information, please call one of the following numbers and let our staff know that you are calling about CAR T-cell therapy: