Thiruvananthapuram : KIMSHEALTH Cancer Centre has successfully treated a 47-year-old patient with high-grade B-cell lymphoma using CAR T-cell therapy. The patient, who had previously failed to respond to first-line aggressive chemotherapy, was given a new lease of life through this groundbreaking treatment.
The patient was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, specifically arising from B cells, a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies. After undergoing six cycles of chemotherapy at another hospital, a PET scan revealed persistence of the disease.
At KIMSHEALTH, a medical team led by Dr. Bijay P. Nair, Senior Consultant, Department of Haemato-Oncology, determined that CAR T-cell therapy was the optimal course of action. This one-time treatment involves genetically modifying the patient’s own T cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells.
“Since CAR T-cell therapy works through a different mechanism—utilizing the body’s immune cells to fight lymphoma—it was the best available option for this patient,” said Dr. Bijay P. Nair. “Chemotherapy was administered to prepare the patient’s body for the engraftment of the modified T cells.”
The procedure involves extracting T cells from the patient’s blood, genetically modifying them in a laboratory to specifically target cancerous cells, and then infusing them back into the patient. These modified cells multiply to ensure an effective attack on the lymphoma.
The successful treatment was a collaborative effort involving a multidisciplinary team, comprising Dr. Ashwin V. Nair and Dr. Lekshmon K. S, Clinical Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Department, and Dr. Sanooja Pinki, Department of Transfusion Medicine.
