AdventHealth has begun offering a new outpatient treatment for myeloma, allowing patients to receive care with just one infusion and remain close to home. The therapy, known as CAR T-cell therapy, uses a patient’s own immune cells that are reprogrammed to find and destroy cancer cells.
“This therapy is improving quality of life with fewer treatments, better outcomes and a real chance at remission,” said Dr. Rushang Patel, hematologist-oncologist specializing in cell therapy at AdventHealth Cancer Institute. “It’s a game changer in our fight against cancer.”
AdventHealth is currently the largest provider of CAR T-cell therapy in Central Florida and first introduced the treatment in 2019. It is also the only center in the region offering Cilta-cel, a specific CAR-T cell treatment for myeloma patients. Clinical trials have allowed doctors to use this therapy for other cancers as well.
Jeff Bishop was the first myeloma patient to receive the outpatient CAR T-cell treatment at AdventHealth. He shared his experience: “The procedure is phenomenal, the recovery time is quicker and it’s just better in every single category.” Diagnosed in August 2020, Bishop underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy while caring for his daughter before being approved for CAR T-cell therapy after a stem cell transplant failed. “I got that in December of last year, and today, I’m in full remission, there’s no detections anywhere,” he said. “It sounds like science fiction, it doesn’t seem like it’s a real thing, but it definitely is.”
CAR T-cell therapy involves collecting white blood cells from the patient, training them to recognize myeloma cells, and then returning them to the body during one infusion visit.
AdventHealth’s focus on innovation and comprehensive care has contributed to its ranking as the No. 1 hospital in Florida and its Cancer Institute being ranked 30th nationally by U.S. News & World Report. The institute also received high marks for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma care.
Recent data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology show that about one-third of patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy have lived five or more years without needing further treatment—a milestone not previously seen with this disease.
“The results we’ve seen in our patients are promising and it gives us hope that we could in fact be one step closer to finding a cure,” Dr. Patel said.
Located in Orlando since 1908, AdventHealth Orlando operates as both a pediatric facility and training hospital under current president Terry Shaw.
