| The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center recently published promising results from a multicenter clinical trial co-led by Sattva Neelapu, M.D. |
| The study tested CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with aggressive large B-cell lymphoma. At 15 months following treatment, 42% remained in remission. Based on these results, the FDA approved CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell lymphoma in October 2017. |
| How does CAR T-cell therapy work? |
| A person's own T cells — disease-fighting immune cells — are removed and sent to a lab where they're genetically re-engineered to produce CARs on their surfaces. CARs are proteins that allow T cells to recognize cancer. |
| The CAR T cells are multiplied by millions in the laboratory and then sent to the hospital, where they're infused back into the patient's bloodstream. |
| These "attack" cells not only recognize and kill cancer cells but also may remain in the body long after the infusion and guard against cancer recurrence. |
| Clinical Trial Trailblazer — Emily Dumler |
| In 2013, Emily was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After other treatments failed to stop her cancer, she qualified for the final spot in Dr. Neelapu's study of CAR T-cell therapy, which opened the following week at MD Anderson. |
| "I felt grateful just to have another option; a really viable one that my doctors were excited about," Emily says. "And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt hopeful." |
| Emily was only the second patient at MD Anderson and the third in the world to receive CAR T cells to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A month after her infusion, tests showed her cancer was in complete remission. Two and a half years later, Emily remains cancer-free. |
| Support research at MD Anderson |
| Every dollar you give to MD Anderson helps fund lifesaving research like this and enables the excellent patient care and education programs needed to make progress in the fight to end cancer. |
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| Thank you for making a gift during National Cancer Research Month to help in Making Cancer History® for more people like Emily. |
