How CAR T-Cell Therapy Helps Your Immune System Fight Cancer in a New Way

When people think about cancer treatment, chemotherapy and radiation are often the first options that come to mind. But cancer care continues to evolve, and one promising advancement is CAR T-cell therapy, a specialized type of immunotherapy that uses the body’s own immune system to help fight cancer.

At Hawaiʻi Pacific Health medical centers, this innovative treatment is now available to eligible patients locally, helping more people access advanced cancer care without having to travel far from home.

Dr. Stephanie Si Lim, a Hawaiʻi Pacific Health Medical Group pediatric hematologist/oncologist based at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Woman & Children and researcher at the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center, recently appeared on Hawaiʻi News Now “Sunrise” to talk more about this treatment and how it’s advancing care for patients in Hawaiʻi.

According to Dr. Si Lim, immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that helps the immune system better recognize and attack cancer cells.

“The concept of immunotherapy has actually been around for a very long time, but it wasn't until recently that we really have a better understanding of how it really works,” she said.

Unlike chemotherapy, which targets rapidly dividing cells throughout the body, immunotherapy is designed to help the body identify specific markers on cancer cells and respond more directly.

“It gets cancer cells, but you also get to avoid those bad side effects that we all know too well, such as hair loss, nausea,” Dr. Si Lim said.

That doesn’t mean chemotherapy is no longer important. In many cases, chemotherapy remains a key part of a patient’s treatment plan and may be used along with immunotherapy. The right approach depends on the type of cancer, how it has responded to previous treatments, and a patient’s overall health.

CAR T-cell therapy stands for “chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy and is a highly personalized form of immunotherapy.

“CAR-T therapy is unlike traditional chemotherapy in that you don't just order the drug from like, let's say, a manufacturing company,” Dr. Si Lim explained.

Rather, the treatment begins with collecting a patient’s T cells, which are white blood cells that play an important role in the immune system. Those cells are then changed in a laboratory so they can better recognize and target cancer cells. Once ready, they are returned to the patient through an infusion.

“Here in Hawaiʻi, we actually do it in an outpatient setting, and so patients can go home the same day. Thereafter, we just have the patients come back to clinic to make sure that they don't have bad side effects from the treatment,” Dr. Si Lim said.

CAR T-cell therapy is not right for every patient or every type of cancer. It is often considered for people with certain blood cancers whose disease has returned or has not responded to other treatments.

"Right now, there are only seven FDA-approved CAR-T products that are available,” Dr. Si Lim said. “Now, with that said, since 2022 at Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, our cellular immunotherapy program is proud to have treated close to 30 patients all across the states. This is huge for us because it really allows patients to stay at home who are sick – stay at home to be close to their family, their friends, their support system, without having traveled thousands of miles away to the mainland to get access to this innovative therapy.”

Watch the full interview to learn more about CAR T-cell therapy and what it may mean for eligible cancer patients and their families.