A new cancer therapy that improves the immune system is showing promising results in the fight against most the deadliest form of blood cancer. The T-Cell therapy showed unprecedented results as more than half of terminally ill blood cancer patients experienced complete remission.
The Guardian reports on the extraordinary success of engineering immune cells to target a specific type of blood cancer. Lead author Dr. Stanley Riddell, a researcher at the Freud Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, expressed optimism over the results in his speech at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Although further research is necessary he admitted, the current results are promising a paradigm shift in the treatment of blood cancer.
In one study of 35 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 94 percent experienced a complete remission according to a report by VOA.
The treatment has only been used on several dozen patients who were diagnosed with only months to live. Meanwhile, patients with other blood cancers had response rates of 50 percent to 80 percent and more than half had experienced complete remission according to the report.
The therapy works by enhancing the natural cancer-fighting ability of cells. To administer the T-cell therapy, doctors remove immune cells from patients tagging them with cancer-specific receptor molecules that can recognize and attack cancer cells, reports The Guardian. Other T-cells are also known to fight invading viruses and bacteria. In this case, the T-cells were targeted at a series of blood cancers caused by a malfunction of B-cells which is another immune system cell, adds VOA.
While immunotherapy or T-cell therapy is often offered as a last resort for other cancer patients, the manipulation of the immune system has already shown promise against melanoma and some lung cancer, according to The Guardian. However, it was noted that reprogramming the immune system can produce dangerous side effects.
The research on the new T-cell therapy for terminal blood cancer patients is currently under review and is still pending publication.
Know more about immunotherapy in the video below:
