We know that CAR T-cell therapy is effective in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); however, a current limitation is the collection of high quality originator T-cells from patients. Speaking from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2017 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta, GA, Constantine Tam, MD, FRACP, FRCPA, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia, discusses this issue, refering the results of a study investigating whether ibrutinib pre-treatment could improve the production process and outcomes. Dr Tam also gives his predictions on the future of CAR T-cell therapy for CLL, including whether it could replace autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).