CAR-T Therapy
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy developed from adoptive T cell transfer, which typically uses patients’ own immune cells to combat cancer. CAR-T cells are armed with specific antibodies to recognize antigens in self-tumor cells thus eliciting cytotoxic effects
“The treatment would have cost nearly £300,000 per patient at its full list price, but the company’s commercial agreement with NHS England has enabled NICE to approve its entry into NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.”
“The process of producing such a treatment is complex, and the treatment can produce severe side effects. The treatment is prepared using the patient’s own T cells (a type of white blood cell) that are then modified genetically in a laboratory so that they make a protein called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). When the treatment is then given back to the patient, this receptor allows the modified T cells to attach to and kill cancer cells, thereby helping to clear the cancer from the body.”
