Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy Enrolment Process and Forms
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a new treatment for some types of leukemia and lymphoma.
Availability of CAR T-cell Therapy in Canada
The process to produce and deliver CAR T-cell therapy is complex. While Ontario is building capacity for CAR T-cell therapy, the province can now treat a limited number of patients from Ontario, and other provinces and territories.
Ontario hospitals are funded to deliver CAR T-cell therapy for patients who meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the enrolment forms.
Patients who are eligible for CAR T-cell therapy in provinces or territories where it is not yet available, may be able to access treatment through provincial out-of-province or out-of-country programs if applicable.
You may also want to discuss with your patient any clinical trials that would be right for them.
What You Need to Know Before You Enrol a Patient
- To enrol a patient, you must be an oncologist, hematologist or CAR T-cell specialist licensed to practice in your Canadian province or territory of residence.
- The patient must have a valid health card from their Canadian province or territory of residence.
- The patient must meet the eligibility criteria listed on the enrolment form.
- You must have confirmation from the CAR T-cell therapy centre that they will treat your patient within a clinically appropriate timeframe.
- If there is no capacity in Ontario to treat your patient, you may wish to discuss out-of-country treatment options with your patient, if applicable. Note: all Ontario patients must be enrolled through the Ontario CAR T-cell Program before an out-of-country request can be approved.
- For information on out-of-country centres, please visit the Ministry of Health website.
- To confirm whether your patient is eligible, you must complete and submit an enrolment form and required supporting documents to Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) before apheresis, or as soon as clinically appropriate.
How to Enrol a Patient
- Contact the appropriate CAR T-cell therapy centre
- For pediatric patients: Contact The Hospital for Sick Children. The Hospital for Sick Children will submit all enrolments for patients being treated at that hospital.
- For adult patients: Confirm the CAR T-cell therapy centre will treat your patient within a clinically appropriate timeframe, then proceed to step 2.
- Confirm that your patient meets the eligibility criteria listed on the enrolment form.
- Gather all required supporting clinical documentation, listed at the end of the enrolment form.
- Submit the application using the Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) secure upload tool. Download instructions.
Do not email any documents containing personal health information to Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario). Personal health information should only be submitted through the secure upload tool.
To inquire about the patient enrolment process, please send us an email.
Review Timelines
We aim to provide an enrolment decision within 5 business days after receiving the application with all supporting documents. If additional information and expert review are required, the review process will take longer.
Notice of Collection
Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) collects the personal health information on the enrolment form under the authority of the Connecting Care Act and the Personal Health Information Protection Act. The information helps determine patient funding eligibility, and supports reimbursements and provincial health system planning.
As part of the evaluation of the request, Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) may need to disclose the patient's personal health information to other administrative programs for health services and insured benefits at the Ministry of Health.
If you have questions about this collection, send us an email.