CAR T-cell therapy in Australia
There are currently 3 different CAR T-cell products available in Australia for lymphoma. All 3 of these are publicly funded for eligible patients. This means you shouldn’t have to pay for it.
While all 3 products use your own T-cells, different pharmaceutical companies have manufactured CARs (chimeric antigen receptors) to alter your T-cells. An overview of the different CAR T-cell products available in Australia is below.
Types of CAR T-cell therapy in Australia
YescartaTM (axicabtagene ciloleucel)
Yescarta™ is a product made by Gilead.
Who can have it?
Yescarta is approved and funded for:
- people with refractory or relapsed Large B-cell Lymphomas* in the 2nd line of therapy.
- people with refractory or relapsed Follicular Lymphoma in the 3rd line of treatment.
*Not suitable for people with Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL).
TecartusTM (brexucabtagene autoleucel)
Tecartus™ is a product made by Gilead.
Who can have it?
- Adults with relapsed or refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma in the 3rd line of treatment. To be eligible, one of your 1st or 2nd line of treatments must have included a BTK inhibitor – such as zanubrutinib, acalabrutinib or ibrutinib.
- Adults with acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoma.
KymriahTM (tisagenlecleucel)
Kymriah™ is a product made by Novartis.
- Children and young adults up to 25 years of age with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma. You may be able to have this as 2nd line treatment if you had a stem-cell transplant with your 1st line treatment. If you haven’t had a stem-cell transplant, you may be eligible to have CAR T-cell therapy as 3rd line of treatment.
- Adults with relapsed or refractory DLBCL* in the 3rd line of treatment.
*Not suitable for people with Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL).
Where can I have CAR T-cell therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy is a special type of treatment that can only be given in hospitals with trained staff and the right equipment. These hospitals must show they can keep you safe while you get this treatment.
Because of this, CAR T-cell therapy is not available in every state or territory in Australia. The table below shows which hospitals offer this treatment.
If you don’t live near one of these hospitals, you might need to travel to another state. There is help available to pay for travel and accommodation, and you will need to plan to be away from home for about 2 months.
Adults
Victoria
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- The Alfred Hospital
New South Wales
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
- Westmead Hospital
Queensland
- Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
- Townsville Hospital
Western Australia
- Fiona Stanley Hospital
South Australia
- Royal Adelaide Hospital - Not currently available, but application made to health department – awaiting approval.
Children
Victoria
- Royal Children’s Hospital
- The Alfred Hospital
New South Wales
- Sydney Children’s Hospital
Queensland
- Queensland Children’s hospital
Western Australia
- Perth Children’s Hospital - Not currently available, but application made to health department – awaiting approval.
Some hospitals not listed above may provide CAR T-cell treatment as part of a clinical trial. Ask your doctor if it is available where you are having treatment.
Advocacy for equitable access
Lymphoma Australia regularly advocates for lymphoma patients to have access to the best approved treatments and clinical trials, regardless of where in Australia you live. Our advocacy has helped to get medicine listed on the PBS to make it cheaper and have different treatments approved for more people with lymphoma.
We are currently advocating for more access to CAR T-cell therapy. Recently, our CEO was even interviewed on ABC radio talking about this. To hear the interview click here Lymphoma Australia CAR T-Cell Therapy – Why Some Australians Still Miss Out
We need you
However, we also need your help. If you live in a state where CAR T-cell therapy is not yet available, we ask that you contact your Members of Parliament (MPs) and ask them to make access to CAR T-cell therapy a priority in your state or territory.
You can find the list of MPs in Australia by clicking the link below.
We have written a template letter you can download, print or copy into an email. You can use this as a guide to write your own letter, or use this template as is – Just make sure to fill in the items in red to make it relevant to your state.
