CAR T-cell therapy is the leading edge of care for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is home to some of the world’s most advanced cancer treatments, including CAR T-cell therapy for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). Physicians in the Cancer and Organ Transplant Clinic (COTC) at Fred Hutch recently published a report of a patient who became the 17th in the world to receive this life-saving therapy.

Physicians of COTC successfully used CAR T-cell therapy to treat a patient with PTLD. The 47-year old patient, who had three kidney transplants over 34 years, was the 17th in the world to receive this innovative treatment. A case report and systematic review, published recently in Bone Marrow Transplantation, details the treatment and positive outcomes.

“Until recently, the use of CAR T-cell therapy for PTLD had been largely unknown,” says Christopher Blosser, MD, clinical professor (Nephrology) and COTC director.

“Aggregated data from our case and the 16 previously published reports show this treatment is safe and effective. CAR T-cell therapy does not appear to cause organ rejection and has limited side effects when compared to other chemotherapies and immunotherapies.”