CAR T-Cell Therapy Achieves Remission in 15-Year Blood Cancer Patient at Corewell Health
Key Insights
Marie Hindee, a 77-year-old patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (search) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (search), achieved remission after receiving CAR T-cell therapy at Corewell Health Beaumont Hospital (search) in Royal Oak.
The FDA-approved liso-cel CAR T-cell therapy, which modifies patient T-cells to target cancer cells, offers high remission rates and potentially durable results with just one treatment.
Hindee became the first chronic lymphocytic leukemia (search) patient to receive this treatment at the facility after 15 years of battling blood cancer (search) through multiple chemotherapy (search) rounds and targeted therapies.
Marie Hindee of Shelby Township experienced a breakthrough moment when her first scan after CAR T-cell therapy showed complete remission from blood cancer (search), ending a 15-year battle that began in 2010. The 77-year-old patient became the first with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (search) to receive this cutting-edge treatment at Corewell Health Beaumont Hospital (search) in Royal Oak.
"I said, 'Dr. Jaiyesimi, did you see my PET scan?' I was so excited. And I said, 'We've got to do our dance.' So we started dancing in the waiting room," Hindee recalled of the moment she learned about her remission.
Revolutionary Treatment Approach
The therapy that transformed Hindee's prognosis utilizes liso-cel, a CAR T-cell treatment that received FDA accelerated approval in March 2024. Dr. Ishmael Jaiyesimi, chief of medical oncology/hematology at Corewell Health, explained the innovative process: "CAR T-cell therapy takes a patient's own immune cells -- called T cells (search) -- from a patient's blood and ships them to a special lab. The cells are then modified to add a new receptor called a CAR. That receptor allows the cells to recognize cancer cells and destroy them."
The engineered CAR T-cells are multiplied to create millions of modified cells before being infused back into the patient. Hindee received her modified cells within a month, undergoing three chemotherapy (search) sessions followed by the CAR T-cell infusion two days later.
Long Journey to Treatment
Hindee's cancer journey began in 2010 when she was 62 years old, experiencing fatigue and lymph node swelling. Bloodwork revealed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (search) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (search), slow-growing cancers of B-lymphocytes (search) that help fight infections. "I just endured. You get tired when you work and you just kind of roll with it in your daily life and not even know that you've got cancer," Hindee said.
Over 15 years, she underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy (search) and benefited from new targeted drugs as they became available. "That's my story really. A lot of good drugs came out during the time I had it, and I've had good results with most of them. They don't last because cancer has a job to do," Hindee explained.
Treatment Advantages and Side Effects
According to Jaiyesimi, CAR T-cell therapy offers several significant advantages: "The biggest advantage is number one, if we are lucky, we get a high remission rate. Most of the remission rates can be durable for a long time, and the most advantage is just one time. After that, you're done."
The treatment does carry potential side effects, including flu-like symptoms, fever, chills, low blood pressure, increased heart rate, and fatigue. Some patients may also experience confusion or seizures. "Knocks your socks off. But, you know, it takes time to get stronger because you get really weak. But it was worth it," Hindee said of her experience.
Expanding Applications
While CAR T-cell therapy is primarily used for blood cancers like certain leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma (search) that have relapsed or are resistant to other therapies, research is expanding into solid tumors. Clinical trials are showing promising early results for breast, lung, melanoma (search), and pancreatic cancers.
Long-term Outlook
The durability of Hindee's remission remains unknown due to the therapy's recent approval. "We've seen people, six years now, that are still in remission after this therapy. We do hope she will be one of those too," Jaiyesimi said. "What tomorrow brings, we don't know. But today, we're happy."
Hindee has used her recovery time to fulfill long-held dreams, including a trip to Hawaii with her husband Michael. She hopes her story inspires others facing serious health challenges: "Don't give up because things change all the time in medicine. I always thought maybe, maybe if I can make it to 80, that would be great. My doctor said, 'Oh no, you better raise the bar because you're going to be here for a while.'"