Barriers and solutions to improve access for chimeric antigen receptor therapies.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells are a new type of cancer treatment where the cells from a patient's own blood are changed in the laboratory and injected back into the patient so they attack cancer cells. While these drugs offer a possible cure for some cancers, patients have had problems getting these treatments because there are not many approved treatment centers. Patients have to travel to these centers, and there can be high out-of-pocket costs for travel, a place to stay and the treatment itself. The paper discusses several ways to make it easier to get these treatments, such as helping patients pay for lodging and travel and changing insurance payment policies for chimeric antigen receptor T cell treatment.