Pakistan has achieved a historic milestone in cancer treatment. The Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Center (AFBMTC) in Rawalpindi successfully performed the country’s first CAR T-cell therapy. This advanced treatment gives new hope to patients with difficult blood cancers.
Doctors treated a 21-year-old patient suffering from relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R B-ALL). The young man’s cancer had returned twice even after previous treatments. On June 18, 2026, the medical team gave him an indigenously developed anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy. Just 14 days later, the patient achieved complete remission with no measurable residual disease. He was discharged on July 3, 2026.
CAR T-cell therapy is one of the most advanced cancer treatments in the world. It works by modifying the patient’s own immune cells (T-cells) in a lab so they can better recognize and attack cancer cells. Only a few countries offer this specialized treatment because it requires high-level expertise and technology.
The success at AFBMTC is the result of years of teamwork by doctors, scientists, and support staff from the Army Medical Corps. This breakthrough means more Pakistani patients can now access world-class treatment inside the country without travelling abroad. It also opens doors for wider use of advanced cellular therapies in Pakistan’s healthcare system.