The future of cancer care has arrived at Ohio State, where doctors and researchers are breaking new ground in the use of blood cells as treatment. The OSUCCC – James is among the nation’s leaders in cellular therapy, which involves the extraction and genetic modification of white blood cells from patients or donors. Those blood cells are then reintroduced into patients’ bodies, where they target and kill cancer cells. “What we are doing now is getting white blood cells from patients, taking them to the laboratory, then you give them back to them,” says Marcos de Lima, MD, the director of the Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at The James. While cellular therapy has already led to important new cancer treatments — including CAR T-Cell therapy, a revolutionary procedure first studied at a small number of leading cancer centers, including The James — de Lima believes the discipline will soon become a core component of care for patients around the country. “This is showing very strong responses — the way that you talk about radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, soon you will have a branch that will be called cell therapy,” he says. “It's already happening in some areas, and we expect that it is going to be part of everything we do in the next five years.” Learn more about the OSUCCC – James Cellular Therapy Program. Learn more about blood and bone marrow transplant at Ohio State.