CAR T CELL THERAPY: How It Works
Your body’s own immune system provides one of the best defenses against cancer.
Just as your immune system protects you against the bacteria and viruses that cause disease, it can also be enlisted to fight cancer.
The approach is called, “immunotherapy.”
Your body’s main cancer fighters are immune cells.
Immune cells have receptors on their surface that can detect dangerous invaders or cancer.
When a cancer cell is discovered, immune cells release a powerful punch.
Sometimes the immune system needs a tune-up before it can fight cancer.
Immune cells can be removed from the body armed with new proteins that target cancer cells and given back to the patient in large numbers.
Once inside the body, the modified immune cells recognize and attack the cancer.
This approach is called CAR T cell therapy.
Despite the promise of immunotherapy, not everyone responds.
Memorial Sloan Kettering scientists are exploring ways to improve immunotherapy using powerful drug combinations and finding new cancer weaknesses to target so that one day everyone can benefit from immunotherapy and more cancers can be prevented or cured.