Cell therapy
Cell therapy means that living cells are used as a treatment. The cells are used because they can do something active in the body. For example, they can help the body respond to disease or influence the immune system.
Cell therapy: when the solution sits in the cells
Cell therapy is treatment with living cells. The cells work like small helpers that are sent in to solve a task:
They can calm the immune system if it reacts too strongly or begins to attack the body.
They can help the immune system better recognize and fight disease.
They can help the body repair itself—for example by sending signals that cause tissue to heal and work better again.
So the special thing is that it is the cells’ own function that is the actual treatment, and that is why cell therapy differs from tissue therapy, where the cells are primarily used to rebuild structure, and from gene therapy, where the cells are genetically modified. If a cell product is also genetically altered (such as CAR-T), it is classified as gene therapy, not cell therapy.
Cell therapy can be autologous or allogeneic:
• In autologous treatment, you use the patient’s own cells.
• In allogeneic treatment, the cells come from a donor.
Safety and control
Cell therapy is complex because the medicine consists of living cells. Cells can be sensitive, and therefore special requirements apply to the time from cell harvesting to storage, temperature, transport, and handling.
Cell therapy also requires special medical attention. When living cells are given as treatment, they can affect the body significantly. Therefore, cell-based treatments are provided in specialized departments, where the patient can be monitored closely. One example is CAR-T, which requires monitoring to see whether there is a severe breakdown of the cancer cells that can affect the body, or whether the CAR-T treatment causes neurological side effects.
How cell therapy works
Many cell therapies begin with cells being taken out of the body. They are then processed, grown, selected, activated, or modified in a laboratory. Once the cells are ready, they are returned to the patient, often as an infusion into the blood or directly into a specific tissue.
Example of cell therapy
When donor cells may be an option after transplantation
After an organ or stem cell transplant, some patients may develop a rare and serious lymphatic disease linked to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Here, donor-based T-cell therapy can be used because T cells can help the body control the virus and the cells the disease affects.
The cells are not genetically modified, but selected and grown so they can recognize EBV-infected cells.
One example is Ebvallo (tabelecleucel), which has been approved by the EMA for adults and children from 2 years of age with EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD), when the disease has returned or has not responded to previous treatment. Ebvallo is not recommended by the Danish Medicines Council (Medicinrådet) for standard treatment, but the Danish Medicines Council is currently reviewing Ebvallo.
Explore the other ATMPs
Learn more about how cell therapy and tissue therapy differ from gene therapy.
What is ATMP?
ATMP stands for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products and is a new type of advanced medicine that uses the body’s own building blocks - genes, cells, and tissue - to repair or change what isn’t working.
It opens up new possibilities for treating serious diseases- also diseases where previously there were few or no treatment options. That’s why ATMP is changing the way we treat some diseases.
