UVA Cancer Center to offer a new immunotherapy treatment

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The UVA Cancer Center has a new immunotherapy treatment that will no longer require patients to stay in the hospital.

“For car T cell therapy services thymic antigen receptor therapy, or car T cell therapy, is a recently established form of immunotherapy,” Doctor Indumathy Varadarajan with UVA Health said.

This method modifies T cells into what Dr. Varadarajan says are highly activated super soldiers.

“These activated soldiers target the tumor and destroy it,” the doctor said.

He says patients that are resistant to chemotherapy often have great responses to this treatment: “They are actively developing resistance mechanisms, but they have not yet figured out how to escape from this,” Dr. Varadarajan said.

Patients can also receive car T cell therapy as outpatients, meaning you can go back to the comforts of your home after each session.

“They have shown that there is no difference in the outcomes, that this is a very safe, and it’s a very feasible thing to do,” Dr. Varadarajan said.

This treatment is slated to be available late July.

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