Tests and checks

Before you start CAR T treatment your healthcare team will perform a number of checks which may include:

• Your general health, or ‘performance status’
• Check your lungs, heart and blood pressure
• Look for signs of infection; any infection will be treated
• Check if your cancer is getting worse
• Look for signs of graft-versus-host disease that can happen after a transplant (if you have had one)
• Check your blood for uric acid and for how many cancer cells there are in your blood.
• Check for hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV infection
• Check if you had a vaccination in the previous 6 weeks or are planning to have one in the next few months