Province’s first CAR T patient gets treatment

Cherylee Truitt’s second birth day, as she calls it, has just passed, though she held off on the cake. On May 17, she received a revolutionary therapy that is hoped to give her a second shot at life. She was the first person in the province to get it.

Truitt has diffuse large B cell lymphoma, which made her a candidate for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, a treatment Saskatchewan began offering this spring.

CAR T therapy uses a patient’s T cells which have essentially been supercharged so they can fight the patient’s cancer.

“It’s offered to eligible patients with no other treatment options and is their last hope to be cancer-free,” said Deborah Georget, Nursing Manager of SHA’s Oncology Services at Royal University Hospital.

Until now, Saskatchewan patients referred for CAR T therapy travelled out of the province.

Truitt is pleased the therapy is offered here, where her family, friends and her familiar care teams are within arm’s length.

“I’m never alone. They are just the best cheerleaders,” she said, noting her health-care team members are just a call away anytime of the day or night.

Truitt is grateful for the care she has received from so many people within and outside of the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency. She says Chaplain Emily Carr’s guidance has been integral and so has the musical support of a social worker at Parkridge Centre in Saskatoon who introduced Truitt to a particularly uplifting song. The melody, called “Brighter Days” by Emeli Sandé, has become a sort of theme song.

“I’ve listened to it a lot because I believe brighter days are ahead,” said Truitt.

 Cherylee Truitt is shown with the 6100 oncology team on May 17, the day she is infused with modified, cancer-fighting T cells.