Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Cellular Therapeutics Center designs and conducts clinical trials of adoptive cell therapies, with an emphasis on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for the treatment of blood cancers and solid tumors. CAR T cell therapy is a novel form of immunotherapy that uses genetically engineered versions of a patient’s own immune cells as living drugs to fight cancer. MSK scientists pioneered this approach, which is now a powerful option for people with certain difficult-to-treat cancers.

Our multidisciplinary team of clinicians and researchers collaborate to translate discoveries made in the laboratory into new CAR T cell treatments that are safe and effective for patients. This includes developing and enhancing new types of CAR T cells that work better and have potency against an expanding number of cancer types. We also are developing and testing combination therapies with small molecules or monoclonal antibodies.

The Cellular Therapeutics Center is also working to advance this promising field by training young physician-scientists to help develop multidisciplinary CAR T cell programs at other academic medical centers and participate in multicenter CAR T cell trials.