Learn CAR T cell therapy, what it is, how it works and why it is the best form of treatment for some children with pediatric leukemia.
CAR T CELL THERAPY: HOW IT WORKS
Your child’s own immune system provides one of the best defenses against cancer.
Just as your child’s immune system protects against bacteria and viruses that cause disease…
it can also be enlisted in the fight against cancer.
This approach is called immunotherapy.
Your child’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 your child in large numbers.
Once inside the body, the modified immune cells recognize and attack the cancer.
Despite the promise of immunotherapy, not every child 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 immunotherapy can benefit every child and more cancers can be prevented or cured.