Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center created a safe outpatient CAR T-cell therapy program that allows patients to receive advanced cellular therapy closer to home. This model improves access for rural patients, reduces the burden of inpatient stays, and strengthens community-based precision cancer care.
Nationally, approximately 1 in 5 patients who qualify for CAR T-cell therapy never receive it due to geographic distance, travel burden, or limited availability at specialized inpatient centers. Recognizing a critical need in its community, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, launched the region’s first fully outpatient CAR T-cell therapy program for select blood cancers, fundamentally redefining how advanced cellular therapies can be delivered safely outside of a hospital setting and earning the program a 2026 ACCC Innovator Award.
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.