Cellular Therapy for Cancer Treatment

Your partner for cell therapy cancer treatments.

When you need cancer treatment, you want care teams that stay on the leading-edge of science. Novant Health Cancer Institute specialists are among the nation’s leaders in developing new ways to fight cancer using your own immune system or cells from a donor.

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What is Cellular Therapy?

Novant Health Cancer Institute is among a small group of cancer treatment centers in the United States that are accredited for providing transformational cell therapies and immune effector cell therapies to cancer patients.

Cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy regularly used to treat certain forms of blood cancers as well as some testicular, ovarian and brain cancers. Novant Health is one of the few cancer care locations expanding this treatment to other diseases, such as Sjogren’s Syndrome. 

What is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation?

A bone marrow or stem cell transplant replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy bone marrow cells. There are two main types of transplants:

  • Autologous transplant involves using your own bone marrow or stem cells
  • Allogeneic transplant uses bone marrow or stem cells from another person

What are bone marrow and stem cells? 

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside bones that produces all blood cells. A stem cell (immature blood cell) is the specific cell within the bone marrow that can develop into white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.  

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What to Expect With Your Stem Cell Transplant

Allogeneic transplant process

The process of using cells from a donor (allogeneic transplant) is similar to autologous therapy except the cell collection is performed on the donor, not you.

Once you receive the new stem cells, our team will keep a close eye on your recovery as your new immune system takes form over the next year. Allogeneic therapy may be your best chance for a cure, but you can also be at risk for infections or possible damage to parts of your liver, skin or lungs from stem cell rejection (called graft versus host disease). Our compassionate team of experts will be there with you every step of the way to ensure a safe road to recovery.

Additional Advanced Cell Therapies

Immune effector cell program

Most immune systems have the natural ability to identify and eliminate abnormal cells in your body, like cancer cells. When cancer cells go undetected, new treatments like immune effector cell therapies can transform yours or a donor’s immune system cells into cancer-killing cells. The Novant Health Cancer team is among the nation’s leaders in developing and using these therapies to treat your cancer.

CAR-T cell therapy

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells (CAR-T cells) are approved to treat some types of cancer, including Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Follicular Lymphoma, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Multiple Myeloma. Novant Health Cancer Institute participates in studies using this treatment and others to target multiple types of cancers, giving you access to the latest treatments available.

Why Choose Novant Health?

Our highly skilled providers have devoted their careers to providing you with remarkable hematology care. We’re here for you with a team of experienced doctors, nurses, geneticists, and other blood specialists to provide compassionate support and the multidisciplinary care you need. We stay on top of the latest research to ensure you have access to the most advanced treatments to manage your blood condition and live life to the fullest. 

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Advancements in hemophilia treatments and medicines for blood conditions can give you a new way to fight your disease. Novant Health hematologists participate in studies and programs dedicated to helping you live better with or overcome blood disorders. Through our participation in Community Counts (CDC), a public health monitoring program funded by the CDC division of blood disorders, we share real-world data to help pioneer new and better treatments.  

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Managing a non-malignant blood condition is often a lifetime commitment. You’ll receive compassionate care at a Novant Health federally designated Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) for adults. HTCs are multidisciplinary comprehensive clinics providing holistic care for bleeding disorders. Your care team will include visits with a hematologist, social worker, pharmacist, and physical therapist. 

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Clinical Cell Therapy Research Trials

Novant Health is a leading participant in new cancer research focused on the next generation of immunotherapies.

You'll have access to clinical trials researching the best new therapies for curing cancer including Natural Killer Cell studies, new ‘bi-specific’ antibodies and cytokine-stimulated cell therapies for pancreatic, brain and other cancers.