Special cell therapy was successful in eradicating cancer in an early trial in a pair of patients now confirmed to be in remission after more than 10 years since they were treated, new research shows.
The two chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients, one being identified as Doug Olson (75) are now free of cancer after taking part in an early trial for the CAR T-cell treatment, which alters genes in the body’s immune system to target cancer cells.
A form of white blood cell, T-cells play a major role in the human immune system, helping it to fight off cancer cells, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.
CAR T-cell therapy aims to reverse the significant decline in the immune response of cancer patients through the alteration of genes.
The study prompted its lead researcher Carl June to point out that the innovative gene therapy could soon be declared a “cure” for some forms of the disease.
Noting that the patients achieved complete and sustained remission after the trial, June, who’s also a co-author of the Nature report, says the CAR T-cells remained detectable more than ten years after infusion.
According to the University of Pennsylvania doctors, who said this is the first time a therapy had been studied for so long, this treatment attacks cancer immediately and remains inside the body for years to keep the disease at bay.
Although the CAR T-cells therapy has already received the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval, it is only available to patients in which at least two other types of standard treatment have failed since CAR T-cells can also result in serious side effects – high fever, coma, and even death – and it has been established that they’re not effective against solid cancerous tumors.
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