How breakthrough CAR-T cancer therapies could be made more widely accessible

CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses specially altered T cells to fight cancer. A sample of T cells is collected from the blood of a cancer patient, genetically engineered to produce chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface, and then expanded and reinfused into the patient. These new receptors enable the cells to latch onto a specific antigen on the patient’s tumour cells and kill them.

CAR-T therapy has proven to be particularly effective in the treatment of certain blood cancers, but it currently comes with several limitations.

CAR T-cell production is long and complicated. The process includes apheresis of the patient, access to a treatment facility, and a long waiting time as the new cells are produced. This is not ideal for patients who are already very ill. In addition, generation of a ‘fit’ cell product is not guaranteed as these patients have usually already undertaken aggressive chemotherapies, and of course the significant cost of the treatment limits broad access to the technology.