Dr. Ghobadi Discusses the Logistics of CAR T-Cell Therapy

Armin Ghobadi, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center, discusses the logistics of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

Once a patient’s white cells are sent to a treatment center, they typically receive lymphodepleting chemotherapy for 3 days. A couple of days later, the patient is infused with the therapy in a way that is similar to blood transfusions, explains Ghobadi. Then, patients are monitored for any side effects, mainly cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity. Responses can be expected within the next 1 to 3 months.

The most common adverse events (AEs) are CRS and neurotoxicity. Although these events are almost always reversible, they need to be properly monitored, he adds. If a patient does present with an AE, he/she can be treated with a steroid using interleukin-6 or a receptor-blocking agent, such as tocilizumab (Actemra). With the combination of those agents, most of these adverse events are effectively managed.