A revolutionary cancer treatment is now available at the UVM Medical Center

A revolutionary cancer treatment that doctors say cures up to 80% of blood cancer patients is now available at the UVM Medical Center in Burlington. Doctors say CART cell therapy eliminates cancer in 50%-80% of patients. “This patient received CART cells… and just three months later, her scan was completely free of disease,” said Dr. James Gerson, the CART cell program director at the UVM Medical Center. Until recently, the treatment was unavailable to cancer patients in Vermont and Northern New York. Now, that same treatment is available at the UVM Medical Center. Cancer specialists say CAR T cell therapy is for patients suffering from blood cancers like lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma, and is seen as a last resort for patients when other methods fail. Doctors at UVM say the treatment costs about $400,000, but patients say the long-term effectiveness of the treatment makes it all worth it.