CION Ameerpet
Paediatric Cancer Treatment — Hyderabad
CAR-T cell therapy for childhood leukaemia — what every parent needs to know
Medically reviewed by CION Cancer Clinics Tumour Board · Last reviewed June 2026
When a child’s leukaemia returns or stops responding to standard treatment, families are often told about CAR-T cell therapy. This guide explains what it is, how it works, and what the process looks like — in plain language, without jargon, so you can ask the right questions at your next consultation.
- Tumour board review — every child’s case is assessed by the full team before any recommendation
- 45-minute consultations — time to understand the options, not a rushed summary
- Free written second opinion — for every family considering complex treatment decisions
- Coordinated care pathway — we manage the specialist referral and stay alongside you
17+
Cancer Specialists
on Panel
on Panel
96.9%
Breast Cancer
Survival Rate*
Survival Rate*
15,000+
Patients
Treated
Treated
4.8★
Google Rating
(800+ reviews)
(800+ reviews)
Understanding CAR-T Therapy
What is CAR-T cell therapy for childhood leukaemia?
When you hear the words “CAR-T cell therapy,” it can sound daunting. At its heart, it is a treatment that uses your child’s own immune system to fight leukaemia. Here is what that means in practice.
Every person has immune cells called T cells, whose normal job is to find and destroy harmful invaders in the body. In CAR-T cell therapy, a small sample of your child’s T cells is collected from their blood. These cells are then sent to a specialist laboratory, where scientists add new genetic instructions — a “chimeric antigen receptor,” or CAR — that teach the T cells to recognise a specific protein on the surface of leukaemia cells. The reprogrammed cells are multiplied into the millions, then infused back into your child’s bloodstream, where they seek out and destroy leukaemia cells carrying that protein.
This is fundamentally different from chemotherapy, which works by attacking all rapidly dividing cells in the body (including healthy ones, which is why hair loss and nausea are common chemotherapy side effects). CAR-T therapy is designed to be far more precise — though, like every treatment, it carries its own risks and side effects that your oncologist will explain in full.
In paediatric oncology, CAR-T therapy has been most widely studied and used for relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) — leukaemia that has come back after initial treatment, or that did not respond to standard chemotherapy. It is not routinely offered at the start of treatment for newly diagnosed leukaemia. The decision to explore it is made carefully by the full tumour board, weighing the child’s specific situation against all available options.
If you are reading this because your child has relapsed ALL or another form of childhood leukaemia that is not responding to treatment, you deserve a clear, honest conversation about whether CAR-T therapy is relevant to your child’s case — and if so, what the process looks like. That conversation starts with a tumour board review. At CION Cancer Clinics, we walk every family through that process, from the first question to the final plan.
12+ Centres in Hyderabad · Pick yours
CION cancer care is closer than you think.
We're never more than 30 minutes away. Same panel of specialists at every centre. Same tumour board reviews. Same NCCN protocols. Pick the closest one and call directly — or let us pick for you.
CION Ameerpet
CION Kukatpally
CION L.B. Nagar
CION Tolichowki
CION Masab Tank
CION Banjara Hills
CION Kompally
CION Balanagar
CION Siddipet
CION Sangareddy
Not sure which centre fits best? Tell us where you are — we'll suggest the closest one with the right specialists.
Help me pick the right centre
Beyond Hyderabad
35+ centres across Telangana & Andhra Pradesh
Travelling for treatment? We may have a centre right where you are.
Telangana
Andhra Pradesh
Don't see your city? Call 18002028726 — we'll find your nearest CION partner centre.
Meet the Specialists
17+ senior cancer specialists. One panel for your case.
Trained at AIIMS, Tata Memorial, and leading international centres. Combined 150+ years of experience. Every complex case is reviewed by 3+ of them — together.
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
Surgical Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation Oncologist
Hematologist
Interventional Radiologist
Dr. Mohammed Imran
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
Surgical Oncologist
Want a specific doctor for your case? Mention them when booking.
Book Free ConsultationBook an appointment with our specialist
Share your name and number — we'll call you back within 30 minutes to schedule your consultation.
Your child deserves a second opinion before any major decision
CAR-T therapy is a complex, significant treatment. Getting a free written second opinion from our tumour board costs you nothing and helps you feel confident in the path forward.
The CAR-T Journey
How CAR-T cell therapy for childhood leukaemia works — step by step
From the first conversation to post-treatment monitoring, here is what the CAR-T therapy process looks like for most families. Your child’s team will walk you through every step before anything begins.
Tumour board assessment
Before anything else, your child’s full case — diagnosis, prior treatment records, current scans, and molecular test results — is reviewed by the entire oncology team together. The tumour board decides whether CAR-T therapy is the most appropriate next step, or whether another approach should be considered first. This is not a single doctor’s opinion; it is a coordinated, multi-disciplinary decision. If the board recommends CAR-T therapy, you will be given a clear explanation of why, along with all the alternatives.
T cell collection (leukapheresis)
Once a decision is made to proceed, your child undergoes a procedure called leukapheresis. Blood is drawn from a vein, passed through a machine that separates out the T cells, and then the remaining blood is returned to your child’s body. This typically takes a few hours and is done as an outpatient procedure. Your child is awake throughout — it is not surgery. A care coordinator will be with you to explain each stage on the day.
Cell manufacturing
The collected T cells are sent to a specialist laboratory, where scientists add the genetic instructions that turn them into CAR-T cells — programmed to find and destroy leukaemia cells. The cells are then expanded (multiplied) into the large numbers needed for the infusion. This manufacturing process typically takes between two and four weeks, though timelines vary between products and facilities. During this period, your child may remain on bridge therapy to keep their leukaemia as stable as possible while the cells are prepared.
Conditioning treatment
Just before the CAR-T cell infusion, your child receives a short course of conditioning treatment. The purpose is to reduce the number of existing immune cells in the body, creating space for the new engineered T cells to expand and work effectively. Conditioning is given as an inpatient. The specific conditioning regimen will be tailored to your child’s situation and explained in detail by the oncology team before it begins.
CAR-T cell infusion
The engineered T cells are infused into your child’s bloodstream through an intravenous line — a process that looks much like a blood transfusion and typically takes under an hour. Your child is monitored closely throughout the infusion. The CAR-T cells then travel through the body and begin seeking out leukaemia cells. This is the moment many families have been waiting months for, and the team is with you every step of the way.
Monitoring for side effects
After the infusion, your child is monitored as an inpatient — usually for at least two to four weeks. The most important risks to watch for are cytokine release syndrome (CRS) — where the immune system responds very strongly, causing fever, low blood pressure, and sometimes breathing difficulty — and neurological effects. Both are known, anticipated risks. The oncology team has protocols to detect and manage them. You will receive a clear briefing on what signs to watch for and how to respond before and after discharge.
Response assessment and next steps
Around four weeks after the infusion, your child will have a bone marrow test and other evaluations to assess whether the CAR-T cells have put the leukaemia into remission. If remission is achieved, the tumour board will discuss whether additional treatment — such as a bone marrow transplant — is recommended to maintain it, or whether careful long-term monitoring is the right approach. If the response is incomplete, the team will review all remaining options and explain them to you clearly, without rushing the decision.
Families who walked this journey
You do not have to face this alone
Every family at CION has a dedicated care coordinator, a 45-minute consultation to understand the options, and a full tumour board behind every decision. We walk this journey with you.
Real Stories. Real Voices.
15,000+ patients chose CION. Hear from them directly.
These aren't paid endorsements or written reviews. These are video testimonials from real patients and families — recorded on their own phones, in their own words. Pick any one. Watch it. Then decide.
4.8★800+ Google reviews
50+video testimonials
15,000+patients treated
Read all 800+ reviews on Google
Start Your Story. Book Free Consultation.
Common questions
Your questions about CAR-T cell therapy for childhood leukaemia — answered
What is CAR-T cell therapy and how is it different from chemotherapy?
CAR-T cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy in which a small number of your child’s own immune cells — called T cells — are collected from their blood, modified in a laboratory to recognise and attack leukaemia cells, and then infused back into your child’s body. Unlike chemotherapy, which uses medicines to kill rapidly dividing cells throughout the body, CAR-T therapy is designed to be highly targeted — the engineered T cells seek out leukaemia cells carrying a specific marker. This is why it causes a different pattern of side effects to chemotherapy and why it is particularly valuable in situations where standard chemotherapy has stopped working. It does not replace chemotherapy entirely; it is one part of a broader, tumour-board-planned treatment approach.
Which children with leukaemia might be considered for CAR-T therapy?
CAR-T therapy is most commonly considered for children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) whose disease has returned after initial treatment (relapsed ALL) or whose leukaemia did not respond adequately to standard treatment (refractory ALL). It is not a first-line treatment for every child newly diagnosed with leukaemia; it is typically evaluated when the tumour board determines that standard approaches are unlikely to achieve a durable remission. Eligibility depends on the child’s age, overall health, the specific type of leukaemia, and the molecular characteristics of the leukaemia cells. A full tumour board review is essential before any recommendation is made.
What are the main risks and side effects of CAR-T cell therapy in children?
The most significant side effects of CAR-T therapy are cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). CRS occurs when the activated T cells release large amounts of signalling proteins (cytokines) into the bloodstream, causing fever, low blood pressure, and, in severe cases, difficulty breathing. ICANS can cause confusion, difficulty speaking, or in rare severe cases, more significant neurological effects. Both of these are recognised risks that experienced oncology teams monitor closely and have protocols to manage. Other possible effects include a period of low blood counts and increased infection risk. The timing, severity, and management of these effects will be discussed in detail by your child’s oncology team before treatment begins. Medical sign-off required on clinical framing of side-effect severity gradations.
How long does the CAR-T therapy process take from start to finish?
The process spans several weeks. First, T cells are collected from your child’s blood in a procedure called leukapheresis — this typically takes a few hours and does not require an overnight stay. The cells are then sent to a laboratory where they are genetically engineered and expanded; this manufacturing process takes roughly two to four weeks, though timelines vary. In the meantime, your child may receive a short course of conditioning treatment to prepare their immune system. The engineered cells are then infused — this infusion itself is relatively brief, similar to a blood transfusion — after which your child is monitored closely, usually as an inpatient, for several weeks. The full journey from collection to discharge is typically around six to eight weeks, though every child’s path is individual.
Does CION Cancer Clinics coordinate CAR-T therapy for children?
Yes. CION Cancer Clinics coordinates CAR-T therapy planning within its tumour board framework. Because CAR-T therapy requires specialist infrastructure — including the leukapheresis unit, the cell-manufacturing facility, and a dedicated infusion and monitoring team — it is delivered in partnership with appropriately equipped centres. Our role is to ensure that every child whose case may benefit from CAR-T therapy has their records reviewed by the full tumour board, receives a clear explanation of what the process involves, and is referred to the right facility with full continuity of care and a second-opinion assessment if the family wishes one.
If CAR-T therapy achieves remission, what happens next?
Achieving remission through CAR-T therapy is an important milestone, but it is not the end of the road. The tumour board will assess whether additional treatment — such as a bone marrow transplant — is needed to maintain the remission long-term, or whether careful monitoring is sufficient. This decision depends on the depth and quality of the remission, the child’s prior treatment history, and the risk profile of the original leukaemia. Regular follow-up blood tests and bone marrow assessments will continue for an extended period after therapy. The care team at CION walks with your family through every stage of this monitoring and is available to answer questions at each visit.
Pediatric Cancer A–Z
Explore All Pediatric Cancer Topics
Browse our complete library of parent-facing guides, grouped by topic — from warning signs and cancer types to diagnosis, treatment, side-effect care, survivorship and family support.