Cancer Cure 2017: Promising Results for CAR T-Cell Therapy
Doctors conducting a new cell and gene therapy for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, are seeing extraordinary strides in the treatment.
As revealed in the American Society of Clinical Oncology Conference in Chicago last Monday, to have such results, the success of the cancer treatment comes as a rare find. The study is small in terms of respondents, as it only has 35 people; nevertheless, majority of the patients showed signs of remission within two months of therapy. Among the 35 respondents, only two individuals did not respond to the treatment.
"I can't say we may get a cure but at least we bring hope of that possibility," said Dr. Frank Fan, chief scientific officer of Nanjing Legend Biotech.
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The treatment called CAR-T therapy is done by filtering the cancer patient's blood in order to remove the T cells. A gene that fights off cancer is then added to the T cell genome. The reprogrammed cells will be administered to the patient intravenously.
The one-time treatment, which doctors dub the "living drug," has been tested on leukemias and lymphomas. So far, the study is a first for multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma, also called plasma cell myeloma, affects a type of white blood cells, the plasma cells, which are responsible for creating antibodies that fight off infection. Thus, patients of the said cancer are easily infected. Aside from their vulnerability to infection, symptoms include bone pain, bleeding, and anemia.
This cancer is now the second fastest-growing cancer, with over 30,000 cases reported yearly in the U.S. Around the globe, there are over 115,000 cases occurring each year.
It is still too early to conclude that the therapy is truly a success, but given the impressive results of the study, the doctors might just make big accomplishments in the field of cancer treatment research, and someday, hopefully, a cure.
More updates should arrive soon.
