Methodist Healthcare is seeing \u201cexponential growth\u201d in a new cancer therapy that relies on lab-modified immune cells.<\/p>\n
Clinicians at Methodist\u2019s flagship hospital and its adjacent children\u2019s hospital in the South Texas Medical Center are also engaged in several clinical trials looking to advance the treatment, known as CAR T-cell therapy, for more cancers and even conditions beyond cancer such as autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing that CAR-T therapy can be so powerful and immune suppressive that some people with autoimmune diseases like lupus or multiple sclerosis may be able to be helped,\u201d said Dr. Paul Shaughnessy, medical director of Methodist Hospital\u2019s Adult Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Program. \u201cThat would be a whole new area of treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arming T cells to fight cancer<\/p>\n
T cells are one of the immune system\u2019s primary fighters against disease, latching onto cells infected with viruses and destroying them. These specialized cells are also able to recognize and target cancer cells.<\/p>\n
But cancer often finds a way to outmaneuver this immune response, crafting complex defense systems that make it difficult for the T cells to identify and target it.<\/p>\n
This is where CAR T-cell therapy comes in. CAR T cells are T cells that have been taken from the blood and genetically modified in a lab to more effectively identify and destroy cancer cells.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MethodistHealthcareSytem_HospitalSpecialistClinic_CARTStemCells_CancerTreatmentTherapy05_07.07.2026_.jpeg\")
A cell therapy technician shows a patient their frozen CAR T cells in an IV bag before beginning therapy at Methodist Healthcare\u2019s Sarah Cannon Transplant and Cellular Therapy center in the South Texas Medical Center on July 7, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
Researchers successfully modified T cells for the first time in 1989. In 2011 and 2012, cancer patients were treated with CAR T-cell therapy for the first time in separate trials, paving the way for approval<\/a> by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n Methodist Hospital started offering the therapy as a standard treatment option about five years ago, Shaughnessy said, and its usage has skyrocketed since, even replacing some stem cell transplants \u2014 a decades-older procedure that uses high-dose chemotherapy along with a patient\u2019s or donor\u2019s stem cells to rebuild the immune system.\u00a0<\/p>\n Methodist\u2019s blood cancer and blood and marrow transplant programs, part of the national Sarah Cannon Cancer Network<\/a>, has performed more than 4,000 adult transplants and hundreds of children\u2019s transplants since it began in San Antonio in 1993, according to Shaughnessy.<\/p>\n Next generation of cellular therapies<\/p>\n So far, CAR T-cell therapy has proven most effective against blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, where cancer cells circulate freely rather than forming into solidified tumors. It\u2019s typically a last line of defense for patients who aren\u2019t responding to other therapies.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe they\u2019ve failed a bone marrow transplant previously,\u201d Shaughnessy said. \u201cThese CAR T-cell therapies can offer curative treatment \u2014 not in every patient, but it can put the majority of patients into remission, and some patients look like they\u2019ve been cured for the rest of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n Researchers are investigating how to improve the therapy to target other cancers, which can be trickier, as well as certain autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n Methodist Healthcare is participating in 10 of these trials, including one evaluating the use of T cells from healthy donors rather than a patient\u2019s own cells. Researchers describe this so-called \u201coff-the-shelf<\/a>\u201d approach as a way to potentially shorten the weeks-long wait typically required to manufacture a patient\u2019s own cells, since donor cells could be prepared in advance and ready for immediate use.\u00a0<\/p>\n Others are investigating multi-target CAR T-cell therapies to recognize more than one target on a cancer cell, ultimately improving effectiveness and reducing the risk of disease recurrence.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to these cancer-focused trials, Methodist Healthcare is also participating in CAR T-cell clinical trials exploring new treatment options for autoimmune diseases and pediatric patients, including systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and scleroderma, among others.<\/p>\n One big challenge of CAR T-cell therapies, like other advanced cancer treatments, is its cost. Producing CAR T-cells can cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million<\/a> for a single patient.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MethodistHealthcareSytem_HospitalSpecialistClinic_CARTStemCells_CancerTreatmentTherapy12_07.07.2026_.jpeg\")
A nurse hangs a cell bag from an IV pole as a patient begins their CAR T-cell therapy at Methodist Healthcare\u2019s Sarah Cannon Transplant and Cellular Therapy center in the South Texas Medical Center on July 7, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n