CAR-T Meeting 2026 | The role of the nurse throughout a patient’s CAR-T journey: the importance of education

So in our institution at the University Hospital in Zurich, we see all the CAR T-cell patients before they come and we are only doing the CAR T-cell therapy in an inpatient setting. So we see a couple of weeks before they come to us for the CAR T-cell therapy and we have a talk with them about their fears about the pathways about the procedure. So in a well half an hour or sometimes 45 minutes talk with patients and their relatives we clarify the pathway, we show them the ward, the room, with the overall aim that they have less fear for the therapy, and the impact of this procedure is very high we receive that from feedback from patients.

So bridging therapy before CAR-T cell therapy has a huge impact on patients and their loved ones. And sometimes you have to bridge for a long time due to, for example, waiting for the CAR-T manufacturing, so sometimes several weeks. So there it’s important that you educate patients properly, that they adhere to their medication, but also the psychological impact of bridging therapy is crucial that they have enough support to go through this pathway.

Well then they come to our ward for the CAR T-cell therapy. Sometimes, depending on the disease and circumstances of the patient, so if the patient is too ill or if the patient too far away from the hospital, we do also the lymphodepletion therapy before CAR T-cell therapy in the inpatient setting. And that’s a new movement. Depending on the disease, depending on the product, sometimes patients can already leave the hospital seven days after CAR T-cell therapy. And sometimes, well, depending on the circumstances, they are in our inpatient setting for a long time. 

So the main role nurses do have with CAR T-cell therapy, of course, is the leukapheresis process, don’t forget that, extremely important. And as soon as they have received the CAR T-cell therapy, of course, looking at the side effects. So mainly the cytokine release syndrome, the ICANS, and there it’s extremely important that nurses have had a proper education about those side effects because I think it’s crucial to react as soon as possible when those side effects occur, so nurses can react soon. I think that’s crucial. So education overall is extremely important. 

So of course, the EBMT guidelines are very important and then we launched last November as a hematology nurses group and healthcare professionals group, HNHCP, we launched an update of the CAR T-cell learning program and inside this book, translated from English into German, Italian, French, and Spanish language, you will find all the actual information nurses need to know to deliver proper care for patients.

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