Cancer Cure 2017 News: CAR-T Therapy for Multiple Myeloma Patients Found Effective
A new cell and gene therapy conducted on 35 multiple myeloma patients has been found effective in treating the rare blood cancer. According to the researchers at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, the treatment that is called CAR-T therapy (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy) was the first treatment done on multiple myeloma to yield impressive results.
In the study, 33 out of 35 multiple myeloma patients saw clinical remission two months after being treated with CAR-T cells. Nineteen of these patients were followed for at least four months. Of these 19 patients, 14 were able to achieve complete response criteria, one experienced partial response, while four achieved very good partial remission.
The results of the study were announced at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Conference last week. American Cancer Society's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Len Lichtenfeld said that it was very rare for any cancer treatment to achieve such a success. According to him, while chemotherapy helps around 10 to 30 percent of cancer patients, immune system drugs manages 35 to 40 percent, and gene-targeting drugs aid 70-80 percent, "you don't get to 100."
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Although Lichtenfeld said that the results of the recent study were impressive, it remains to be seen how long they would last. The CAR-T therapy works by sieving the blood of the cancer patient to get rid of the immune system soldiers known as T-cells. These T-cells are then modified by integrating a cancer-targeting gene onto them before being put back to the patient's system through intravenous means.
Despite the unprecedented results of the study, Dr. Frank Fan, chief scientific officer of Nanjing Legend Biotech, emphasized that the recent developments do not necessarily promise a cure. "I can't say we may get a cure but at least we bring hope of that possibility," he said. Chinese firm Nanjing Legend Biotech partnered with the researchers at Xi'an Jiaotong University in testing the CAR-T treatment.
