Social drivers of health such as geographic distance, travel burden, or limited availability at specialized patient centers bar many eligible patients from receiving first-line, potentially curative therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Community cancer centers in particular often struggle to offer CAR T, due to the extensive resources required to safely maintain a CAR T program: emergency department access, intensive care unit resources, and inpatient admission availability.

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with 2026 ACCC Innovator Award winner Andrew Dalovisio, MD, Director of the Myeloma, Lymphoma, and Cellular Therapy Program at Mary Bird Perkins, about how his team successfully launched the first fully outpatient CAR T-cell therapy program for select blood cancers in the Baton Rouge region. For other community cancer centers interested in developing a similar program, Dr. Dalovisio stressed the importance of identifying both a physician and administrative champion to navigate the process in a dyad partnership.

"Less than one in five patients who meet indications [for CAR T-cell therapy] even get a referral. We can talk about how wonderful all these medicines we have are, but if they're not getting to the patients that need them, [they're] not serving [their] purpose." – Andrew Dalovisio, MD

Guest:

Andrew Dalovisio, MD

Director, Myeloma, Lymphoma, and Cellular Therapy Program

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Resources:

• ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference

• 2026 ACCC Innovator Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

• Designing a Safe, Fully Outpatient CAR T-Cell Program in the Community

• CAR T-Cell Therapy Insights from the Field

• Rising to the Occasion: The Impact of Outpatient CAR T-Cell Therapy at the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network