Axicabtagene ciloleucel
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Your own T-cells are removed from your blood, genetically reprogrammed in a lab to recognize a marker called CD19 found on certain lymphoma cells, then multiplied and infused back into you to seek out and destroy those cells.
How it works
Doctors first draw blood and separate out your T-cells, the immune system's attack cells, in a process called leukapheresis. In a lab, those T-cells are genetically engineered to grow a new receptor on their surface that can spot a marker called CD19, found on the lymphoma cells doctors want to destroy. The modified cells are grown into large numbers and frozen for shipping. Before you get them back, you receive a short course of chemotherapy to clear out existing immune cells, making room for the new engineered cells to expand and get to work once infused.
What it’s used for
Used for adults with certain aggressive B-cell lymphomas that didn't respond well to earlier treatment or came back afterward, as well as for adults with follicular lymphoma, a slower-growing type, that has relapsed or stopped responding after prior treatment.
- Mechanism
- Autologous anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy
- Drug class
- CAR-T cell therapy
- Therapeutic area
- Oncology (B-cell lymphoma)