IMM 250 : Immunity & Infection

Running head: THE NEW ERA OF CANCER TREATMENT
CAR T CELLS- A NEW ERA OF CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY
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1CAR T CELLS: THE NEW ERA OF CANCER TREATMENT
CAR T CELLS- A NEW ERA OF CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY
The field of science and technology is witnessing remarkable development in terms of
advancement and innovation. It is worth mentioning here that the human race has been
affected with a number of life-threatening diseases such as Cancer and autoimmune
disorders. Till the last decade, the human race struggled to fight against the quagmire but
there was no absolute treatment available for the life-threatening disease cancer. However,
recently there has been ground breaking inventions in the field of molecular biology that has
changed the fate of the scenario. Till date chemotherapy had been considered as the most
obvious treatment for cancer at initial or advanced stages but the medical cost associated with
the treatment procedure elevated the plight of the patients. Scientists have now come up with
the concept of CAR T CELLS that are thought to be extremely effective for treating cancer.
This paper intends to discuss the efficacy of CAR T CELLS in the treatment process of
cancer. It would also elaborate the properties of the therapy and talk about the associated
advantages that makes it a boon to the mankind.
The CAR T CELL therapy can be defined as a therapeutic procedure that involves the
redesigning of the T cells of the patient so that it targets the cancerous cells and destroys
them (Brentjens et al., 2013). It is more like an army training being imparted to the T cells of
the human body in order to prepare them to fight against the opponent party. The procedure
proceeds with the isolation of the T-cells from the human blood. After the procedure of
isolation, the gene that contains the receptor for binding the proteins expressed by the cancer
cells is modified within the laboratory. The receptor is known as the Cheminergic receptor
which is popularly known as the CAR. A large number of CAR T cells are thus grown in the
laboratory that is administered to the patient through the process of infusion (Davila et al.,
2014). The injected CAR T cells thus target the cancerous cells and destroy them so as to

2CAR T CELLS: THE NEW ERA OF CANCER TREATMENT
prevent the tumour growth. The therapy has been found to be effective against two cancer
types majorly that includes Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (Hinrichs& Rosenberg,
2014).
Fig: CAR T CELL THERAPY
Source: Kakarla & Gottschalk (2014)
CAR T CELL therapy procedure proceeds with the collection of intravenous blood
from the patient’s arm which passes through a tube to an apheresis machine. The machine
disintegrates the blood and segregates the white blood cells along with the T cells and send
the remaining amount of blood back to patient’s body (Kalos & June, 2014). Once the T-cells
are isolated the CAR are inserted into the T cells within the laboratory. Millions of T cells are
grown and transferred to the human body through the process of infusion. The CAR T cells