University Hospitals first in Ohio to treat patients with two FDA approved CAR T cancer therapies

CLEVELAND, May 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncologists at University Hospitals (UH) have two new powerful tools in the fight against cancer following the announcement that Abecma & Breyanzi, from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), are currently being used to treat patients at UH Seidman Cancer Center.

"Providing these latest CAR T-cell therapies to our patients is just another way UH Seidman Cancer Center is leading the way in immunotherapy," says Ted Teknos, MD, President and Chief Scientific Director of UH Seidman.  "Last fall, the Wesley Center for Immunotherapy at UH Seidman was named in honor of Kimberly and Joseph Wesley. The Wesley Family donated $10 million to support groundbreaking research to bring new, life-extending immunotherapy treatments to patients.  The research and clinical trials performed in the Wesley Center for Immunotherapy pave the way for new CAR T-cell therapies like Abecma and Breyanzi to become FDA approved and the standard of care as a treatment option for cancer patients."

Breyanzi is an intravenous infusion that is FDA approved for patients with non-Hodgkin's diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that has relapsed or is refractory (treatment-resistant) after having at least two other kinds of treatment.

"This cellular therapy, along with our in-house CAR T cell therapies, broadens the potential curative treatments for our patients. We are glad to be the first in Ohio to deliver this product to our patients." says UH Seidman oncologist Leland Metheny, MD.

The second newly FDA approved CAR T treatment currently available to UH patients is Abecma, by BMS, which is used to fight multiple myeloma. This new therapy is made by genetically engineering a patient's own immune cells to target BCMA, a molecule almost exclusively expressed on multiple myeloma cells, to mount a powerful, lethal attack against cancer cells. 

Ehsan Malek, MD an oncologist at UH Seidman says, "With the approval of Abecma, we are able to deliver effective personalized therapy to achieve long remissions without the need for continued therapy. I think what makes CAR T-cell unique is that patients can enjoy a fairly long treatment-free period, which has not been a common option for patients with multiple myeloma so far."

For more information call UH Seidman Cancer Center 216-844-5432 (1-800-641-2422). 

To schedule an appointment with a UH Seidman Cancer Center physician, call 216-844-3951. 

SOURCE University Hospitals