HOLY SHIT - is this not amazing? Complete remission? But what do they mean the cells were genetically modified to 'make them better able to seek out and destroy cancerous cells'? How were those cells modified? I hope we hear further reports on these patients who have gone in to complete remission.
A new cancer therapy has met with remarkable success in early clinical trials and could be a game-changing weapon against America’s second leading cause of death. The technique is a kind of immunotherapy known as adoptive T-cell therapy. Whereas chemotherapy, radiation, and other conventional treatments target tumors directly but cause significant damage to healthy cells in the process, immunotherapy enhances the immune system and its ability to fight cancer. During the trials, researchers collected disease-fighting T cells from patients diagnosed with serious forms of blood cancer, including lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, MedicalDaily.com reports. The harvested T cells were genetically modified to make them better able to seek out and destroy cancerous cells, and then were reintroduced into each patient’s body. Despite grim prognoses—most had been given months to live—more than half the participants experienced complete remission. “This is unprecedented in medicine, to be honest, to get response rates in this range in these very advanced patients,” says lead author Dr. Stanley Riddell. Among other caveats, it remains to be seen how long the trial patients will remain in remission. T-cell therapy also carries risks for life-threatening side effects, such as cytokine release syndrome, an overload of defense cells that causes extreme, full-body inflammation. “Like chemotherapy and radiotherapy, it’s not going to be a save-all,” Riddell says, but adds, “I think immunotherapy has finally made it to a pillar of cancer therapy.”
Taken from the March 4th edition of The Week Magazine.
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