Cancer Cure News 2017: Two Infants with Leukemia Now In Remission After CAR T Cell Therapy; New Form of Treatment Very Promising
A new form of treatment called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T cell therapy aimed at curing cancer has yielded promising results after a study revealed that two infants with acute lymphocytic leukemia who received this form of chemotherapy have been cancer-free for 16 and 18 months, respectively.
According to Popular Science, CAR T cell therapy is already quite well-known in the cancer community. It involves the extraction of T cells from the patient's blood. These cells are then altered using a gene-editing technique — transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) — in order to give them special receptors called CARs. They are then infused back into the patient's bloodstream where these receptors will then locate tumor cells, attach to them and kill them.
In the recent paper published by Science Translational Medicine, two infants were treated by doctors at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. They were said to have aggressive forms of cancer and had undergone other forms of treatment — which were all unsuccessful. Following CAR T cell therapy, both patients are said to be currently in remission.
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Other studies have found that this particular form of treatment has been effective in cases involving young patients with leukemia. However, sample sizes and success rates tend to be small as each set of T cells have to be custom made, thus, requiring a lot of time and money. Researchers have also noted that it is very difficult to harvest T cells from patients who, by nature of their condition, don't have that much healthy cells to begin with.
Also, CAR T cell therapy has yet to establish widespread effectiveness when dealing with other forms of cancer.
With these issues in mind, it is said that the main focus of researchers right now is to create a universal form of CAR T cell and to make the treatment more cost-effective. Despite very promising results, it is apparent that there is still a lot of work to be done.
Thankfully, this form of treatment has been receiving a lot of support from different sectors.
A listing on ClinicalTrial.gov reveals that there are hundreds of active clinical trials involving CAR T cell therapy. Meanwhile, Bloomberg recently reported that this form of cancer treatment is also receiving support from one of Europe's biggest pharmaceutical companies.
Novartis reportedly sees "blockbuster potential" for CAR T cell therapy and has doubled its investment in support of this particular approach. The Swiss drugmaker's initial target is children with leukemia but is interested in extending treatment to a wider variety of cancer patients.
