Innovations in cancer immunotherapy: chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T)

Abstract

CMAJ | AUGUST 23, 2021 | VOLUME 193 | ISSUE 33 © 2021 CMA Joule Inc. or its licensors C ellular immunotherapy is a novel therapy where the body’s own immune cells are harnessed for their anticancer effect. One of the most exciting of these approaches is chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T). This therapy is now standard of care for relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common malignancy of childhood, and in high-grade B-cell lymphomas, the most common lymphoma in Canada.1 CAR-T is undergoing clinical trials in other cancers.