A new international alliance, CAR T Vision, launched today with the goal of doubling the number of eligible patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy by 2030. According to the coalition, only around 20% of eligible patients in the US and 30% in Europe currently receive access to this potentially life-saving treatment for certain rare, advanced blood cancers.

The initiative was introduced at a press event in Chicago alongside the release of a roadmap report that outlines key barriers to access and proposes coordinated action to overcome them. The report focuses on three main areas: raising awareness of CAR T-cell therapy, expanding capacity and infrastructure for delivery, and developing sustainable financial models to support access.

“Despite CAR T-cell therapy being available in the United States for nearly seven years in large
b-cell lymphoma, only approximately two out of 10 eligible patients with some advanced blood
cancers ever receive CAR T-cell therapy,” said Miguel Perales, MD, chief, adult bone marrow
transplantation service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

“When it comes to treating these potentially deadly cancers, every minute counts. That is why we established CAR T Vision with recommendations for interventions that, when adopted and scaled, will help many more eligible patients get the opportunity for cure within the next five years.”

The steering committee behind the report includes leaders from patient advocacy organizations, academic and community hospitals, medical societies, health policy experts, and others from both North America and Europe. The coalition encourages participation from across the healthcare ecosystem to help remove persistent barriers.

“Limited awareness of CAR T-cell therapy, low referrals, hospital capacity challenges, and funding and reimbursement are among the barriers that either prevent people from accessing CAR T-cell therapy altogether or cause delays that advance a patient’s cancer beyond the point of treatment eligibility. In short, these barriers cost lives,” said Dr Anna Sureda, a clinical hematologist and co-chair of the steering committee.

“We call on every stakeholder and organization with the ability to help shape better patient outcomes—policymakers, health system leaders, payors, healthcare providers, patient advocates, and industry—to join the growing coalition of Vision endorsers and help ensure every eligible patient has the opportunity for cure with CAR T-cell therapy.”

Expert working groups will now translate the roadmap into action, generating clear recommendations and metrics to measure progress toward the 2030 goal. The report is intended as a starting point for local adaptation and implementation in diverse healthcare systems.

CAR T-cell therapy, a form of immunotherapy that engineers a patient’s own T cells to attack cancer, is approved for certain aggressive blood cancers. Some patients have remained cancer-free for more than five years after treatment.