Nova Scotia now offering cutting-edge CAR-T cell therapy to cancer patients

Halifax’s Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre has become the first medical facility in Atlantic Canada to offer cutting-edge CAR-T cell therapy.

Nova Scotia Health says CAR -T cell therapy is a highly personalized type of immunotherapy for cancer treatment. A patient’s own immune cells (T-cells) are collected from their blood and sent to a manufacturing facility in the United States to be genetically modified to fight cancer cells. A chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is inserted on the cells’ surface, which makes them able to recognize a marker on the surface of cancer cells, and destroy them. The cells are then grown in large numbers, sent back to hospital, and infused in the patient.

Before March of this year, Nova Scotia patients recommended for CAR-T cell therapy had to travel outside the country for treatment.

Dr. Mahmoud Elsawy, a hematologist and the medical director of Nova Scotia Health’s CAR-T cell therapy program, calls it “a revolutionary new treatment.”

“It’s considered a living drug, because once infused in the patient, the genetically engineered T-cells continue multiplying and fighting cancer and may even persist inside the body for long periods,” he said in a news release Tuesday. “It is a lifeline for patients with certain kinds of blood cancer when traditional treatments stop working.”

The CAR -T cell therapy program comes after the Nova Scotia provincial government announced in July 2021 that it would spend $6.7 million annually on cancer care.

Michelle Thompson, Nova Scotia’s health and wellness minster, says the treatment is a “significant step forward” for cancer patients.

“Nova Scotians will now be able to receive this treatment here at home, where they will have the support of friends, family and their care teams before, during and after treatment,” she said in a release.

Currently, the therapy is approved for some types of blood cancers once traditional chemo, or immunotherapy, options stop working.

The first patient to benefit from the therapy in Nova Scotia is Charles Jesso, who says he was “out of options.”

“I am also grateful that I didn’t have to travel out of the country to receive it. Even with having the treatment in Nova Scotia, it has been a struggle. My wife was able to be at my side and we both had the support of family and friends. You cannot do this treatment alone. You need a caring partner and you need a good care team. I am so lucky to have both,” said Jesso.

“The treatment is working, but it’s a long road to recovery. I’m looking forward to 10 months from now when I plan to be well enough to go back to work.”

Nova Scotia Health says patients receiving the therapy are typically in hospital for about three weeks. After being discharged, they are closely monitored as outpatients for a period of time, and have routine check-ins with their CAR-T team.

The medical director of the Nova Scotia Health Cancer Care Program has praised those who worked to establish the program.

“Establishing the CAR-T cell therapy program in Nova Scotia during the pandemic speaks volumes about the dedication and commitment of teams in hematology and hematologic oncology, intensive care and neurology to ensuring Nova Scotia patients with cancer have access to transformative personalized cancer treatments in their home province,” said Dr. Helmut Hollenhorst. “It required extensive training of many teams to be certified as a site to deliver CAR-T cell therapy.”