39-year-old Rijesh Nair undergoes CAR-T therapy at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Navi Mumbai, after battling aggressive lymphoma | Representational Image
Navi Mumbai: In a medical breakthrough at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Navi Mumbai, a 39-year-old Rijesh Nair, a corporate professional based in the United States, found hope and healing after a life-threatening battle with an aggressive form of lymphoma.
Despite undergoing conventional therapies, it was the innovative CAR-T therapy at the hospital that brought about a complete turnaround, putting him in remission and saving his life.
Nair’s journey began in October 2023 when he was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), one of the most common types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The diagnosis came as a shock, but he began treatment immediately.
His doctors administered a standard first-line treatment combining R-CHOP chemotherapy along with methotrexate, which was directly delivered into the spinal fluid to target cancer cells in the central nervous system (CNS).
Initially, the treatment showed some promise, but by June 2024, the lymphoma returned in a more aggressive form—high-grade double-hit lymphoma. This rare and particularly dangerous subtype, marked by genetic abnormalities, made it resistant to standard therapies. Furthermore, the cancer spread rapidly to the brain and spinal cord, complicating the treatment and making the prognosis bleak.
With his condition deteriorating, Nair was referred to Dr. Kunal Goyal, Consultant BMT and Cellular Therapies (CAR-T), Hematologist & Hemato-Oncologist at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Navi Mumbai. Dr. Goyal immediately set into motion a multi-pronged treatment strategy, combining high-dose methotrexate-based chemotherapy (MTR), whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), and Acalabrutinib, a targeted therapy.
MTR was aimed at penetrating the blood-brain barrier to target lymphoma cells within the CNS, while WBRT delivered radiation to the entire brain, with a boost of additional radiation focused on areas where the cancer had spread. Despite these aggressive efforts, the lymphoma continued to persist.
As a last resort, Dr. Goyal decided to try Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy—an advanced and cutting-edge immunotherapy that has been proven effective for aggressive, relapsed lymphomas that do not respond to traditional treatments.
Explaining his decision, Dr. Goyal said, “CAR-T therapy has revolutionized the treatment of certain cancers, particularly aggressive lymphomas. In cases like Nair’s, where the cancer has become resistant to all other therapies, CAR-T therapy offers a new avenue for hope. The therapy works by harnessing the power of the patient’s own immune system. We take the T-cells, a type of white blood cell, and genetically engineer them in a lab to recognize and attack cancer cells. These engineered cells are then re-infused into the patient’s bloodstream.”
Nair underwent the CAR-T therapy at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in late 2024. The lymphoma, which had previously been relentless, went into complete remission. Reflecting on his journey, Nair said, “There was a time when we thought all hope was lost. The cancer kept coming back stronger and faster, and I was running out of options. But CAR-T therapy gave me a second chance at life.”
