CAR T-cell therapy transforms a patient's cells into powerful cancer fighters, with "remarkably high success rates."

Commonly known cancer treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

CAR T-cell therapy, on the other hand, is a promising new treatment for blood cancers. Dr. Noopur Raje of Mass General Cancer Center explained that T-cells are extracted, modified to combat cancer, and reintroduced via IV infusion.

She directs the Multiple Myeloma division at the center, which is part of Mass General Brigham's Gene and Cell Therapy Institute, which is advancing CAR-T and other therapies. She told Fox News Digital in an interview -

“I think it’s made a big change in people’s lives and how we take care of people, It’s one of the most personalized ways of taking care of some of the blood-related cancers.”

Raje and her team at Mass General address multiple myeloma, an uncommon blood cancer targeting plasma cells. The majority of their patients fall within the 60 to 70 age range.

What is CAR-T Cell Therapy?

CAR T-cell therapies, FDA-approved, target cancer-produced tumor antigens, targeting white blood cells to combat germs and diseases. Six FDA-approved therapies treat leukemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and blood cancers.

Raje said -

“We are taking our patients’ T-cells, which are the immune cells, and then activating them and putting a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), which can recognize a protein on a cancer tumor.”

Treating myeloma, Raje’s team studied BCMA in cancerous plasma cells. Re-engineered T-cells multiply to target and kill tumors.