Every cancer breakthrough begins years before it offers patients new hope. Our series Saved by Science takes you inside MSK’s world class research labs, where you’ll see patients meet the scientists whose discoveries not only changed their lives, but are transforming cancer care for patients around the world.
I reached a point where it was getting increasingly more and more difficult to enjoy the things that I normally enjoy.
Maureen had two stem cell transplants that put her into remission for only a short period of time.
I was very excited to tell her that indeed, there was one more option.
CAR T cells are when we take out patients’ T cells from their own body, and then they are trained in a lab to really knock out patients’ cancers.
I was like, okay, if Dr. Landau says this is the thing to do, I'm doing it.
I had no concept whatsoever that such a fast response was even possible.
Took your trip?
I was doing all the hiking that I never thought I would do there.
It will bring me great joy to show you the lab where CAR T cells started at MSK.
I’ve been lucky enough to inherit this space and there’s a lot of history here. Kind of where it all began. It’s very exciting so let me show you around.
This laboratory is where it all began. It’s where a lot of the earliest experiments in CAR T cells took place. This room.
Each of these little dots represents a CAR T cell. And you had excellent CAR T cells.
Well, yeah.
We see people like Maureen who had really excellent results.
And so we're trying to take the same thing that Maureen was able to benefit from and bring it to everybody.
This is hundreds of millions of T cells floating around in there.
And we can take a look, we can look through the microscope and we can actually see them.
So those little bubble-like things...
Those little bubble-like things. Those are CAR T cells. Those have been changed, they’ve been modified so that they’re cancer fighters.
Really, it's those cells that come into this bag and into you and really made you so well today.
And all the work that goes on behind that. All the people like you guys that make it happen. It's incredible.
It was amazing being here in the lab and to see what’s actually going on behind the scenes.
We need the research. That's the roots of where I am today.