The buzz about and the barriers to CAR T-cell therapy | ASH 2025

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is an expensive, but potentially life-saving treatment that uses genetically engineered T-cells to fight a patient’s cancer. Infusions can cost up to $500,000 when accounting for hospital admission, test and procedures. While public and private insurance do typically cover some of the expenses, they usually don’t cover the full amount.

“CAR T-cell therapy fundamentally changes the way we treat patients, especially in aggressive blood cancers and in those who have relapsed or have exhausted other options; this truly is their only hope,” George Eastwood, Executive Director of the Emily Whitehead Foundation, said in a recent Managed Healthcare Executive interview. “We're hoping that we can move this therapy further up the treatment line and deliver it to more patients at scale.”

Eastwood is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology CAR T Vision Steering Committee, which plans to double the number of eligible patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy by 2030, as well as a board member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine.