A new program using CAR T-cell therapy is underway at Calgary s Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC) and is changing the way doctors approach the treatment of certain blood cancers. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy uses a person s own immune cells to fight cancer and will now be offered in Alberta to patients with specific kinds of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. CAR T-cell therapy has changed the way we approach the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said Dr. Mona Shafey, MD, FRCPC, hematologist and director of the Alberta Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. These patients have a very poor prognosis and often die of their disease. The availability of Yescarta gives these patients access to a potentially life-saving treatment.