Stanford Health Care is one of 16 sites across the country, and the only one in Northern California to offer this new CAR-T cell therapy for resistant lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

How does the new immunotherapy work?

The novel immunotherapy harnesses a patient’s immune cells, known as T-cells, to recognize and kill cancer cells. T-cells are removed from the blood of the affected patient and then reprogrammed to recognize and bind to cancer cells. Once the altered cells are returned to the patient, the immune system responds by attacking and killing the cancer cells.

Stanford doctors led clinical trials that helped to bring this new treatment to FDA approval and they continue to perform research with the goal of advancing this treatment to fight other cancers.

Stanford a Leader in New Discoveries and Treatments

As an academic medical center, Stanford has a long legacy in advancing care for patients with cancer through clinical trials and the development of new treatments, including immunotherapy. One of the first successful immunotherapy treatments was developed at Stanford in 1981 by Dr. Ronald Levy. This advancement in gene therapy aims to give new treatment options to thousands of patients with difficult to treat cancers.

For patients with resistant lymphoma that have not responded well to traditional treatments like chemotherapy, CAR-T therapy offers new hope.

“This new gene therapy is a game changer,” says Dr. David Miklos of the Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. “This is the first step in advancing treatment for blood cancers and we hope to extend this treatment to solid tumors including brain, breast, and lung cancers.”

CAR-T Therapy Inquiry

Are you a patient or physician interested in CAR-T gene therapy? Call the Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at 650-723-0822.