via BBC
A therapy that retrains the body’s immune system to fight cancer has provoked excitement after more than 90% of terminally ill patients reportedly went into remission.
White blood cells were taken from patients with leukaemia, modified in the lab and then put back.
But the data has not been published or reviewed and two patients are said to have died from an extreme immune response.
Experts said the trial was exciting, but still only “a baby step.”
The news bubbled out of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in Washington DC.
The lead scientist, Prof Stanley Riddell from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, said all other treatments had failed in these patients and they had only two-to-five months to live.
He told the conference that: “The early data is unprecedented.”
Re-training
In the trial, cells from the immune system called killer t-cells were taken out of dozens of patients. The cells normally act like bombs destroying infected tissue.
The researchers genetically modified the t-cells to engineer a new targeting mechanism – with the technical name of chimeric antigen receptors – to target acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Prof Riddell told the BBC: “Essentially what this process does is, it genetically reprograms the T-cell to seek out and recognise and destroy the patient’s tumour cells.
“[The patients] were really at the end of the line in terms of treatment options and yet a single dose of this therapy put more than ninety percent of these patients in complete remission where we can’t detect any of these leukaemia cells.”
But one cancer expert told me they still felt in the dark on the full significance of the study, as the data is not available.
Learn more: Excitement at new cancer treatment
The Latest on: Cancer immunotherapy
[google_news title=”” keyword=”cancer immunotherapy” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Cancer immunotherapy
- Combination immunotherapy shows no additional benefit for most advanced cancers, finds meta-analysison September 22, 2023 at 6:28 am
A combination immunotherapy treatment of nivolumab plus ipilimumab was associated with no improvement in survival for advanced cancers other than melanoma, when compared to nivolumab alone, according ...
- NC318 Plus Keytruda Shows Promise in Pretreated Lung Canceron September 22, 2023 at 6:00 am
When combined with Keytruda, the novel drug, NC318, proved to be safe and efficacious in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer, research showed.
- Merck, Eisai's combination therapy fails in lung cancer studieson September 22, 2023 at 5:21 am
The pairing of Merck's blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda and Eisai's Lenvima has previously failed in studies evaluating it in patients with types of head-and-neck cancer, skin cancer and colon ...
- Drugmaker Merck says Keytruda combination fails in lung cancer trialon September 22, 2023 at 3:08 am
Merck said on Friday its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda in combination with partner Eisai's drug failed to meet main goals in a late-stage study evaluating it as a treatment for patients with a type of ...
- Cancer Immunotherapy Market Growing At 10% CAGR To Top USD 310 Billon By 2031 X Heraldon September 21, 2023 at 7:48 pm
According to Fact.MR, a prominent market research and intelligence provider, the global cancer immunotherapy market reached an impressive valuation ...
- 'Exciting' Progress in Cancer Research Makes Tumor Cells Easier to Destroyon September 21, 2023 at 11:00 am
It's a really exciting area, and lots of people are trying to find different ways to make immunotherapy work in more people," Susan Kaech told Newsweek.
- Tonix Pharmaceuticals Presents New Preclinical Data at Seventh International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference 2023on September 21, 2023 at 6:00 am
TNX-1700 (mTFF2-MSA) suppresses tumor growth and increases survival rates in preclinical colorectal cancer modelsmTNX-1700 shows single agent ...
- New Drug Combo Shows Promising Results Against Early Stages Of Colorectal Canceron September 20, 2023 at 5:00 pm
A combination immunotherapy developed by biotech company Agenus administered before surgery destroyed over 80% of a tumor before it was removed.
- Why Is Cancer Immunotherapy Focused Evaxion Biotech Stock Trading Higher Today?on September 20, 2023 at 10:03 am
Evaxion Biotech A/S (NASDAQ: EVAX) collaborated with Afrigen Biologics to develop a prophylactic vaccine based on Evaxion's EDEN-discovered gonorrhea targets. Evaxion's Chief Scientific Officer, ...
- Unlocking the secret soldiers: How dendritic cells could revolutionize cancer immunotherapyon September 18, 2023 at 7:58 pm
A recent review in the journal Immunity delves into the crucial role of dendritic cells (DCs) in shaping T-cell responses in cancer, highlighting their importance in both priming anti-tumor immunity ...
via Bing News
2 Comments
J. Sanscartier
Is this treatment available in Canada (for lung cancer). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
innovation
It appears to be a limited trial but perhaps you could contact them directly.