This groundbreaking gene therapy has done the impossible. Who knew this could cure terminal cancer patients?
This gene therapy is called CAR-T cell therapy and it has been able to cure terminal cancer patients in clinical trials. The treatment is something that radically filters a patient’s blood in order to remove key immune system cells, cuts the brakes, and boosts the patient’s immune cells so that they can attack the cancer cells much more effectively.
In the first six months of its clinical trial which was sponsored by California-based Kite Pharma, it was found that more than one-third of extremely sick lymphoma patients confirmed no sign of disease after having a single CAR-T cell therapy treatment.
Co-leader of the study Dr. Frederick L. Locke says that:
“The numbers are fantastic. These are heavily treated patients who have no other options. The ZUMA-1 study results suggest that axicabtagene ciloleucel could become a new standard of care for patients with refractory aggressive lymphoma.”
Kite Pharma seems to be racing against Novartis AG in order to win approval for America’s first gene therapy treatment this is something that does not come to us risk-free.
Marilynn Marchione chief medical writer at The Associated Press made a note that:
“Of the study participants, 13% developed a dangerous condition where the immune system overreacts in fighting cancer, but that rate is lower than in some other tests of CAR-T therapy. The rate fell during the study as doctors got better at detecting and treating it sooner.”
The full results of this will be presented next month at the American Association for Cancer Research Conference. There we will know a lot more about this treatment and the possibilities it will hold. Do you think the benefits will outweigh the risks? For a little more information on this treatment please take the time to watch the video below.