CAR T-cell therapy is a promising treatment for some patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that has relapsed or has not responded to other therapies (refractory). It is a highly-specialized therapy that involves genetically modifying a patient's own T cells to attack their cancer. The FDA has approved several CAR T-cell therapies for lymphoma. Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center is one of the first centers to make the FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies available as standard of care to patients who have not had effective treatment options. CAR T-cell therapies are FDA approved for:
- Aggressive relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma including diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and transformed follicular lymphoma.
- Relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma
- Relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma
Our program also offers patients clinical trials of CAR T-cell therapy for other forms of lymphoma as well as trials of CAR T-cell therapy earlier in treatment and in combination with other immunotherapies.
Patients are evaluated carefully to determine if this therapy is appropriate for them. Learn more about CAR T-cell therapy.
Key Eligibility Criteria for CAR T-Cell Therapy for Lymphoma
Patients who meet the following eligibility criteria may be appropriate for CAR T-cell therapy:
- Confirmed diagnosis of DLBCL, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, or transformed follicular lymphoma to DLBCL that has relapsed or not responded to at least two prior lines of systemic therapy, if the initial response to first-line therapy was longer than 12 months.
- Patients with these diagnoses who do not achieve remission or relapse within 12 months of first-line therapy are eligible for CAR T as a second-line therapy.
- Patients with DLBCL that has relapsed or not responded to first-line treatment and are not eligible for stem cell transplant are eligible for CAR T as a second-line therapy.
- Confirmed diagnosis of follicular lymphoma that has relapsed or not responded after two prior lines of treatment.
- Confirmed diagnosis of mantle cell lymphoma that has either not responded to, or relapsed after first line of therapy