Dr. Pui on Utilizing CAR T-Cell Therapy in Pediatric ALL

Ching-Hon Pui, MD, chair, Oncology Department, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, discusses the use of CAR T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).

CAR T-cell therapy is currently used in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory ALL. Increasingly, it is used to treat patients with central nervous system relapsed or testicular relapse, says Pui.

In the past, pediatric patients with ALL required radiation to be cured; however, now CAR T-cell therapy can cure those patients without the use of radiation. Pui believes that in the near future, CAR T-cell therapy will be used to treat patients with high-risk ALL and avoid intensive chemotherapy altogether, improving the patient's quality of life as well as the cure rate.