Mantle cell lymphoma is a rarer non-Hodgkin lymphoma that often returns after treatment and can resist chemotherapy. When it is relapsed or refractory, CAR T-cell therapy may be an option. SinoUnited Health in Shanghai assesses patients with relapsed and refractory mantle cell lymphoma.
Plain, general information about the disease — the shared starting point before we get to treatment.
Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a less common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that develops from B-lymphocytes — a type of white blood cell. It behaves differently from many other lymphomas: it can grow steadily and it commonly comes back after treatment, which can make it difficult to control over time.
When mantle cell lymphoma returns after treatment (relapsed) or does not respond, or stops responding, to treatment (refractory), further options — including CAR T-cell therapy — are considered.
Not a first treatment — a later option for a lymphoma that has relapsed or become refractory.
CAR T-cell therapy reprograms your own T-cells to recognize and attack cancer cells. For mantle cell lymphoma, the CAR T-cell therapies used internationally are directed at CD19, a protein on the surface of B-cells.
It is generally considered when mantle cell lymphoma has relapsed or become refractory after earlier treatments — not as a first treatment.
Whether CAR T-cell therapy is an option for you is decided from your records — start with a remote assessment.
Relma-cel is a CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy approved in China for relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma after two or more prior lines of systemic therapy, including a Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor. It is administered at SinoUnited Health.
About Relma-cel for mantle cell lymphomaA condition may be treated by more than one therapy, and a therapy may treat more than one condition — each therapy page links back to the conditions it's used for.
Eligibility is assessed from your records — which means you can find out where you stand before traveling.
The following information is for reference only. Final treatment decisions should be made by a qualified physician based on each patient's individual condition.
Not suitable if: active uncontrolled infection · severe organ dysfunction · hypersensitivity to product components or conditioning chemotherapy · active CNS disease (unless stable and tolerated per the therapy's label) · pregnancy or breastfeeding.
This is a general guide only. Whether CAR-T is right for you is a decision made by a qualified physician after reviewing your individual case.
Treatment happens across two trips to Shanghai, with the manufacturing weeks spent at home.
A first visit of around a week to collect your cells by apheresis, on-site.
About 1 week in ShanghaiYour CAR-T therapy is made while you return home.
3 to 4 weeksYou return for the infusion and monitored recovery under the clinical team.
About 3 weeks in ShanghaiAbout two months from first assessment to the end of treatment, with the manufacturing period spent at home.
See the full step-by-step journey →Kept deliberately separate: what is true of this class of therapy in general, and what SinoUnited provides.
CAR T-cell therapy has side effects that are anticipated and closely monitored — most commonly cytokine release syndrome (CRS), and sometimes neurological effects (ICANS). Most are manageable when caught early, which is why treatment is given as a supervised inpatient stay.
SinoUnited delivers infusion and recovery with on-site intensive care available if escalation is ever needed.
Tocilizumab, the standard treatment for severe cytokine release syndrome, is available on site.
5on-site ICUsPatients with relapsed and refractory mantle cell lymphoma are assessed at SinoUnited's CAR T-Cell Therapy Center by Dr. Lily Zhou, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Hematology, with a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF, 25 publications indexed in PubMed, and peer-reviewed research in CAR T-cell therapy.
Since 2024 the CAR T-Cell Therapy Center has treated more than 35 patients from twelve countries.
SinoUnited is also a member unit of the Ruijin Consortium of Blood Disease, led by Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University — one of China's leading hematology collaborations.
Dr. Zhou's publications are cited as evidence of her standing as a published physician. They are not, and must not be read as, a response rate, success rate, or an indication of outcomes across patients.
Read Dr. Zhou's profile
SinoUnited offers CAR-T as an all-inclusive “2+21” package — covering the collection stay and the three-week infusion stay. The full breakdown of what's included, and pricing, lives on the Costs page as a single source of truth.
CAR T-cell therapy is considered for mantle cell lymphoma that is relapsed or refractory after earlier treatments. Whether it is an option for you depends on your individual condition, which SinoUnited Health's team can assess remotely.
Mantle cell lymphoma commonly comes back and can resist chemotherapy. CAR T-cell therapy is one of the options considered once it is relapsed or refractory.
Yes — SinoUnited's international care team reviews your records remotely, at no cost, before any travel.
A remote assessment by SinoUnited's international care team is free, and starts before you travel. Find out whether CAR-T is an option before you plan any trip.