CAR NK clinical trial saves lymphoma patient
CAR NK cell therapy clinical trial puts follicular lymphoma survivor into remission??
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October 29, 2025
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by and on October 29, 2025
When JC Cox was diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma called follicular lymphoma in 2006, the now-retired HVAC technician sought treatment close to his home in Dallas. But several rounds of strong chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant couldn¡¯t keep the cancer at bay.
That¡¯s when he turned to MD Anderson.
Here, a single dose of a novel cell therapy put JC in remission.?Seven years later, he is still cancer-free.?
¡°I thought I was a goner,¡± he says. ¡°But every day, it gets a little better.¡±
A clinical trial found only at MD Anderson???
JC received the novel cell therapy through a clinical trial led by stem cell transplant and cell therapy specialist At the time, this treatment was only available at MD Anderson.?
Dubbed CAR NK cell therapy, this experimental immunotherapy uses natural killer cells (NK cells) enhanced with molecules called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) to make previously invisible cancer cells visible to the immune system. The engineered CAR NK cells can recognize cancer more easily and attack it.?
JC was only the eighth person at MD Anderson to be treated with CAR NK cells. But he didn¡¯t need much encouragement from his doctor to try it. By the fall of 2017, JC¡¯s cancer had morphed into the more aggressive large B-cell lymphoma. He was also running out of options.??
¡°I had tumors on my face and temples that came back every two weeks after chemo,¡± JC recalls. ¡°It was a race, and the cancer was winning. We had to do something quickly.¡±?
JC Cox with his wife, Kathy (left), and Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D.
CAR NK cell therapy brings quick and long-lasting benefit?
The clinical trial called for a single infusion of CAR NK cells. No additional doses were needed. JC received his infusion on April 13, 2018. The treatment was so effective that during JC¡¯s first check-up only a month later, his scans showed no evidence of cancer. Rezvani declared his scans ¡°pristine.¡±?
¡°Of all the cancer treatments I¡¯ve had, CAR NK cell therapy was by far the easiest,¡± JC says. ¡°I just ran a slight fever for a few minutes after the infusion, and that was it. I was embarrassed to walk the halls at MD Anderson after that because I felt so good.¡±?
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CAR NK cell therapy was still experimental, so no one knew if JC¡¯s remission would endure. He had an allogeneic stem cell transplant a few months later, just as a precaution. He still gets short of breath fairly easily now, due to side effects from some medication he took afterward. But he has remained cancer-free ever since the CAR NK cell infusion and is enjoying fishing, traveling and spending time with his four children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
¡°Cell therapy specialist smiled when she was hanging that bag of cells over my head and opening the valve,¡± JC recalls of the CAR NK cell infusion. ¡°She said, ¡®If this works, it¡¯s going to help millions of people.¡¯ I feel really blessed to have been one of the first.¡±?
JC was also excited to attend the launch of MD Anderson¡¯s Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation in November 2024. It was only then that he realized how his success on the CAR NK clinical trial contributed to the institute¡¯s opening ¡ª and how much it would benefit the patients who came after him.?
¡°I¡¯m just a country boy, so I didn¡¯t know how important what I did was,¡± JC recalls. ¡°But there¡¯s no way to say enough good things about MD Anderson. They saved my life. It¡¯s exciting to think that the new therapy that helped me might be able to save other people, too.¡±?
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