Nurses' roles in CAR-T therapy for B-cell malignancies and managing associated cytokine release syndrome.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In recent times, significant innovations have been made in cancer immunotherapy. These innovations have yielded positive outcomes, including a substantial improvement in the clinical outcomes of cancer patients, especially in the B-cell setting involving patients with B-cell malignancies. Method: This paper explores oncology nurses' actual and expanded roles in utilizing chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. Result: CAR-T therapy is an exciting innovation in cancer treatment. However, this therapy is often associated with some mild to life-threatening side effects and toxicities, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Unfortunately, nurses lack adequate standardized guidelines for monitoring and managing patients with CRS. This paper explains oncology nurses' actual and expanded roles in utilizing CAR-T therapy in treating B-cell malignancies based on experience and published data. Discussion: Nurses' responsibilities for patients experiencing CAR-T toxicities with a particular focus on CRS during treatment are discussed.