June 05, 2026
It’s been nearly 10 years since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy to treat a type of leukemia. Today, there are seven FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies, and the results have been revolutionary for various types of blood cancer.
During CAR T-cell therapy, white blood cells known as T-cells are removed from the patient’s blood, genetically re-engineered in the lab and grown in large numbers. These supercharged immune cells are then infused back into the patient’s bloodstream so they can find cancer cells and destroy them. CAR T-cell treatments have produced dramatic results, even eliminating cancer in some people with advanced disease.
“We have seen patients who had absolutely no chance of being cured, historically, (who are) now living years in continued complete remission for a number of blood cancers — a broad array of non-Hodgin’s lymphomas, multiple myeloma and acute leukemias,” said Joseph McGuirk, DO, division director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, the only cancer treatment center in the region offering all seven CAR T-cell therapies. “It’s been a real paradigm shift in a number of blood cancers that we care for.”
But there is still much work left to be done with CAR T-cell therapy. Researchers at KU Cancer Center are working to expand the use of CAR T, not only in terms of what malignancies this kind of therapy can treat, but also in expanding patients’ access to it. Their research has shown that the overwhelming majority of people eligible for CAR T-cell therapy do not receive it.
“Only 10% to 20% of patients who might benefit and be cured by these therapies are actually receiving them in the United States, and that's not acceptable,” said Dr. McGuirk.
CAR T-cell treatment is available only at centers capable of managing the process of creating and administering the treatment, and not all physicians are sufficiently educated about who is eligible for CAR-T. Also, there are logistical challenges for many patients, including those who live hours away from a center offering CAR T-cell treatment and might not be able to afford the gas and lodging to get it. “We have a lot of work to do to improve these problems in access: education of referring providers and their teams, education to the public … patients contending with socioeconomic challenges,” said Dr. McGuirk. “We have a rural population that we serve in the middle of the country, so we're intent and working hard to knock those barriers down so patients can get these therapies.”
Meanwhile, KU researchers also are working to improve the effectiveness of existing CAR T-cell therapies. “Our current CAR T-cell constructs are sort of like a ‘90s Toyota pickup, right?” said Marc Hoffman, MD, director of the lymphoma program at KU Cancer Center. “They're definitely going to get you there, but there are probably nicer ways to travel … adding in a turbocharger, giving them something that's a little bit nicer, a better spoiler…. They work fine, but there's so much potential to have them work better, and we're just starting to understand how to make that happen.”
And researchers are looking to expand the use of CAR T-cells to treat solid-tumor cancers, rather than just blood cancers. “It’s a complex problem with CAR T-cell therapy targeting solid tumors,” said David Akhavan, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at KU Cancer Center. “The CAR T has to infiltrate the tumor. Often, it's in a metabolic competition: the nutrients that the T-cell needs, the tumor cell also needs, so the T-cell is often at a loss. There are also immunosuppressive cells that actively suppress the CAR T-cell.”
One way the researchers are exploring to create a treatment for solid tumors is by genetically modifying the T-cells so that in addition to sprouting chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), the T-cells also secrete cytokines. “This genetic modification … allows the CAR T-cells to expand within the body and more effectively attack the tumor cell,” Dr. Akhavan said. However, cytokines often produce difficult side effects. “So the question is, how can we modify CAR T-cells such that they can secrete cytokines and really have an anti-tumor effect without the long-term toxicity?”
To that end, scientists have created a technology that loads the CAR T-cell with a polymer that releases a drug to enhance the cytokine potential. However, the drug is released only for about two weeks, which the researchers theorize will be long enough to allow the cytokine to be effective without causing toxicity.
Regardless of the obstacles, research on improving and expanding CAR T-cell treatment continues. Work in this area was highlighted earlier this year on an Open Mics episode produced by The University of Kansas Health System.
“We are in a revolution in cancer therapeutics right now, and a lot of that is based on our better understanding of the immune system and leveraging that knowledge to develop novel therapies like CAR T-cell therapy,” said Dr. McGuirk. “It’s an extraordinarily promising time.”
This article originally appeared on the University of Kansas Medical Center's website.
During CAR T-cell therapy, white blood cells known as T-cells are removed from the patient’s blood, genetically re-engineered in the lab and grown in large numbers. These supercharged immune cells are then infused back into the patient’s bloodstream so they can find cancer cells and destroy them. CAR T-cell treatments have produced dramatic results, even eliminating cancer in some people with advanced disease.
“We have seen patients who had absolutely no chance of being cured, historically, (who are) now living years in continued complete remission for a number of blood cancers — a broad array of non-Hodgin’s lymphomas, multiple myeloma and acute leukemias,” said Joseph McGuirk, DO, division director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, the only cancer treatment center in the region offering all seven CAR T-cell therapies. “It’s been a real paradigm shift in a number of blood cancers that we care for.”
But there is still much work left to be done with CAR T-cell therapy. Researchers at KU Cancer Center are working to expand the use of CAR T, not only in terms of what malignancies this kind of therapy can treat, but also in expanding patients’ access to it. Their research has shown that the overwhelming majority of people eligible for CAR T-cell therapy do not receive it.
“Only 10% to 20% of patients who might benefit and be cured by these therapies are actually receiving them in the United States, and that's not acceptable,” said Dr. McGuirk.
CAR T-cell treatment is available only at centers capable of managing the process of creating and administering the treatment, and not all physicians are sufficiently educated about who is eligible for CAR-T. Also, there are logistical challenges for many patients, including those who live hours away from a center offering CAR T-cell treatment and might not be able to afford the gas and lodging to get it. “We have a lot of work to do to improve these problems in access: education of referring providers and their teams, education to the public … patients contending with socioeconomic challenges,” said Dr. McGuirk. “We have a rural population that we serve in the middle of the country, so we're intent and working hard to knock those barriers down so patients can get these therapies.”
Meanwhile, KU researchers also are working to improve the effectiveness of existing CAR T-cell therapies. “Our current CAR T-cell constructs are sort of like a ‘90s Toyota pickup, right?” said Marc Hoffman, MD, director of the lymphoma program at KU Cancer Center. “They're definitely going to get you there, but there are probably nicer ways to travel … adding in a turbocharger, giving them something that's a little bit nicer, a better spoiler…. They work fine, but there's so much potential to have them work better, and we're just starting to understand how to make that happen.”
And researchers are looking to expand the use of CAR T-cells to treat solid-tumor cancers, rather than just blood cancers. “It’s a complex problem with CAR T-cell therapy targeting solid tumors,” said David Akhavan, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at KU Cancer Center. “The CAR T has to infiltrate the tumor. Often, it's in a metabolic competition: the nutrients that the T-cell needs, the tumor cell also needs, so the T-cell is often at a loss. There are also immunosuppressive cells that actively suppress the CAR T-cell.”
One way the researchers are exploring to create a treatment for solid tumors is by genetically modifying the T-cells so that in addition to sprouting chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), the T-cells also secrete cytokines. “This genetic modification … allows the CAR T-cells to expand within the body and more effectively attack the tumor cell,” Dr. Akhavan said. However, cytokines often produce difficult side effects. “So the question is, how can we modify CAR T-cells such that they can secrete cytokines and really have an anti-tumor effect without the long-term toxicity?”
To that end, scientists have created a technology that loads the CAR T-cell with a polymer that releases a drug to enhance the cytokine potential. However, the drug is released only for about two weeks, which the researchers theorize will be long enough to allow the cytokine to be effective without causing toxicity.
Regardless of the obstacles, research on improving and expanding CAR T-cell treatment continues. Work in this area was highlighted earlier this year on an Open Mics episode produced by The University of Kansas Health System.
“We are in a revolution in cancer therapeutics right now, and a lot of that is based on our better understanding of the immune system and leveraging that knowledge to develop novel therapies like CAR T-cell therapy,” said Dr. McGuirk. “It’s an extraordinarily promising time.”
This article originally appeared on the University of Kansas Medical Center's website.