OHC (Oncology Hematology Care) and Mercy Health – Cincinnati announce that the cancer experts at OHC and the Blood Cancer Center at The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health and are now offering Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy, also known as CAR-T, for patients with certain blood cancers. The Jewish Hospital and OHC are the first in Greater Cincinnati to bring this leading-edge treatment to our region for adults with aggressive blood cancers.
“CAR-T is one of the most exciting breakthroughs for cancer treatment since chemotherapy,” said Dr. Essell, who serves as the Medical Director of the Blood Cancer Center at The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health. “We are literally re-training our body’s own immune system to recognize cancer cells and destroy them – even before they become cancer. And not just once, but in an ongoing state. This is a significant game-changer.” Dr. Essell also serves as the Medical Director of the Blood Cancer Center at The Jewish Hospital and as the national Medical Director of Cellular Therapies for The US Oncology Network.
With CAR-T cell therapy, doctors remove a patient’s immune system cells, modify them in a lab so they will recognize and kill cancer, and then infuse them back into the patient. The modified cells stay in the body, where they continue to multiply and act as surveillance, looking for new cancer cells that may pop up over time that they destroy before recurrence.
“This treatment is like no tool we’ve had before. Many patients previously considered terminal are now in remission with good quality of life, demonstrated for up to five years. The best news is that it’s available right here in Greater Cincinnati, through the Blood Cancer Center at The Jewish Hospital and the doctors of OHC,” said Pat Davis-Hagens, Mercy Health Central Market President.
CAR-T provides a cancer treatment option when standard treatments are not effective. Adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma who have failed two or more types of cancer therapy may be eligible. CAR-T has been successful in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It is now being tested in clinical trials for other types of cancer including glioblastoma, myeloma, renal cell carcinoma and solid tumors.
OHC has the only cancer specialists in the region certified to offer this advanced treatment to adults and the Blood Cancer Center at The Jewish Hospital is one of a few centers in the U.S. with certification. For more information, contact OHC at 513-751-2145.