Who is CAR T for?
CAR T is currently available to help treat some blood cancers:
CAR T may be available if:
- one or more of your treatment(s) did not work, or
- your cancer returned
In addition to blood cancers, CAR T is being studied in clinical trials to see if it can be used to treat more types of cancer or other diseases.
Your doctor may consider:
- the type of blood cancer you have
- which treatments you've tried
- other things, like your overall health and personal circumstances
Eligibility will be determined by your doctor. Talk to your doctor about what they may take into consideration for you. Some basic guidelines for CAR T are listed below, by type of cancer.
B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL): If you are a patient that has tried at least one treatment and it didn't work or your cancer came back.
B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL):
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) / Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL): If you are an adult patient that has tried at least two treatments and they didn't work or your cancer came back.
Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL): If you are an adult patient that has tried at least one treatment and it didn't work or your cancer came back.
Follicular Lymphoma (FL): If you are an adult patient that has tried at least two treatments and they didn't work or your cancer came back.
Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL): If you are an adult patient that has tried at least one treatment and it didn't work or your cancer came back.
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Primary Mediastinal B-cell Lymphoma (PMBCL): If you are an adult patient that has tried at least two treatments and they didn’t work or your cancer came back.
Multiple Myeloma (MM): If you are an adult patient that has tried at least one treatment and it didn't work or your cancer came back.
If you don't meet the requirements right now:
- your doctor may recommend other options based on your situation—you may never need CAR T
- your doctor may recommend monitoring your health and situation—if your situation changes, you and your doctor may consider CAR T as an option
- you may be able to receive CAR T as a part of a clinical trial
As more research is done, CAR T may become available to more patients.
To learn more about treatments that are available for your blood cancer, visit the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), click 'Guidelines for Patients' and find your blood cancer.
If you're ever unsure, don't be afraid to ask your doctor or get a second opinion.
Some patients may receive CAR T through a clinical trial. CAR T is being studied in clinical trials to learn more about things like:
- whether approved CAR T-cell therapies can be used to treat more types of cancer and other diseases
- whether CAR T can be used as an earlier treatment option
- how CAR T works in combination with other cancer treatments
- how to better manage potential side effects
- whether new types of CARs (Chimeric Antigen Receptors) can help treat certain cancers
To find out more about CAR T clinical trials, you can:
- ask your healthcare team or a medical center offering CAR T
- reach out to an advocacy or support group for help understanding and finding clinical trials
- visit the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Trials Information page.
- visit ClinicalTrials.gov to search for a clinical trial by your cancer type, location, and "CAR T" as the intervention/treatment
There are many types of treatment options that could be available to you now, or in the future if you need them. Here are some examples of treatment types that you may hear about from your healthcare team. There may be other types or combinations of treatments as well.
Talk with your healthcare team about your treatment plan, and the order of potential treatments that you are considering. Keep in mind that:
- making CAR T cells may be more successful if you have previously tried fewer types of treatments
- if you receive bispecific antibodies first that may impact how effective CAR T could be as a later treatment option
