Real people, real life, real success.
Traditional cancer surgery, chemotherapy and radiation give patients precious moments but no long-term promise. Cancer cell and gene therapies are changing this by harnessing the power of a patient’s own immune system to destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. These therapies work by adding, deleting or changing the DNA within an individual’s existing cells to give those cells a new set of instructions that can help them find and fight cancer.
For patients with certain types of blood cancers, there are approved CAR T therapies available today. There are also many clinical trials available for different types of cancers using cell and gene therapies.
Today there is an urgent need to translate the profound success of CAR T therapies for blood cancers into successful therapies for the most complex and deadly cancers – solid tumor cancers. Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy is currently funding breakthrough research to tackle pancreatic cancer, brain cancer, ovarian cancer, sarcomas, lung cancer, and more, and to advance the understanding of solid tumor biology that will lead to curative therapies.
Your doctor or oncologist can help you understand if CAR T-cell therapies are a potential treatment for your cancer and can also help you explore clinical trials.
Meet Laurie Adami
There was a cancer therapy that would be manufactured just for me? It just felt different than everything else that came off the factory line as one-size-fits-all therapies.”
For 12 years, Laurie Adami tried cancer therapies that failed to defeat her follicular lymphoma. Then she tried CAR T-cell therapy.
Meet Tori Lee
“There’s no doubt that CAR T-cell therapy saved my life. I feel confident the CAR T cells are still in my body doing their job.”
Tori Lee is more than 10 years cancer-free thanks to CAR T-cell therapy.
Meet Austin Schuetz
“This is what your dollars are doing. You made a miracle happen, and you allowed someone to live their life and allowed me to watch my kid grow up.”
More than 10 years after Austin Schuetz received CAR T-cell therapy, he is still cancer-free.
Meet Emily Whitehead
“If Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy hadn’t funded Carl June’s early research, Emily wouldn’t be here. They saved our family.”
Emily Whitehead, the first child to receive CAR T-cell therapy, is more than 12 years cancer-free.
Meet Doug Olson
“I was excited about the science, as it was a direct targeted attack on my cancer with my own immune system. I remember feeling really hopeful.”
Doug Olson received his CAR T cells on Sept. 13, 2010. Within weeks, there were no cancer cells left in his body.
Meet Rachel Elliott
“I want to help advance gene therapy. I believe gene and immunotherapy will become the next pillar of cancer treatment and lead us closer to a cure!”
After multiple attempts to defeat her leukemia with other therapies, CAR T-cell therapy was the answer Rachel Elliot was looking for. She is now nearly seven years cancer-free.
Meet Bob Levis
“Without that first CAR T treatment, I would not be around to enjoy any of our grandchildren. They motivate me to stay positive and stay fit, which is as important as any treatment.”
CAR T-cell therapy fought back against Bob Levis’s cancer and has given him more time to spend with family.