After the experimental treatment received in 2010, the tumor is still in remission: the hopes of definitively curing this and other types of cancer are approaching
In 2010, two patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia underwent what was then an early stage cure, CAR-T therapy, and their cancer went into remission. Ten years later the white blood cells, the T lymphocytes, armed to help the patient’s immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells, are still present and active in the two subjects who had participated in the experiment. An important result, much awaited by the scientific community e published today in the scientific journal Naturewhich indicates how long CAR-T can actually last and which brings the hopes of definitive recovery even closer.
Being studied for different types of cancers
The first CAR-T was authorized by the European Medicines Agency (Ema) in 2018. Today there are three approved at European level and as many are under evaluation, while in Italy there are about 30 centers authorized for administration. These therapies have been shown to ensure complete remission rates of up to 82% for acute lymphoblastic leukemiathe most common cancer in pediatric age, between 40 and over 50% for two non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas aggressive (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and primary mediastinal lymphoma) and an important improvement in survival (2 years for 51% of patients) in myeloma.
Numbers and percentages give doctors and patients hope for a long time in definitive recovery, but to be able to say this we need long-term confirmations, like this one that comes from two patients treated in the USA 10 years ago.
As the American researchers who wrote the study pointed out: Unfortunately, even CAR-T, like immunotherapy, do not work for all patients, some do not respond to treatment, others can develop life-threatening side effects. But experts are learning more and more to understand how they work and this helps us to make the most of the great opportunity we have and to identify new solutions. CAR-T have now reached an advanced stage of experimentation even for those suffering from mantle cell lymphoma , chronic lymphocytic leukemia and myeloma. And they are also being studied for Hodgikin’s lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as well as for several non-hematological, but solid cancers.
Dedicated to the sick who have no other treatments
CAR-T (Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies) are an increasingly concrete hope for those patients who do not respond to standard therapeutic strategies
: the T lymphocytes taken from the patient’s blood are armed in such a way as to express the CAR receptor on their surface which helps them to recognize malignant cells and kill them, to then be reinfused into the patient himself. The first CAR-T was authorized by the European Medicines Agency (Ema) in 2018. Today three are approved at European level and three are currently being evaluatedwhile in Italy there are about 30 centers authorized for administration.
CAR-T effective, safe and well tolerated, available in Italy
There are two CAR-T today approved by the Italian Medicines Agency and reimbursed, already available for the sick in Italy, for those who have not responded or have had relapses after receiving standard care: axicabtagene ciloleucel for adults with diffuse large-scale lymphoma B cells and with primary B-cell large mediastinal lymphoma; tisagenlecleucel for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in pediatric patients and up to 25 years of age and for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in adults. Experience has shown that CAR-T’s are effective, safe and well tolerated – he stresses Andrea Biondi, director of the Pediatric Clinic – Maria Letizia Verga Center in Monza -. The study published by Nature represents a very important work, first of all because it was carried out by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, under the guidance of Professor Carl H. June, pioneer of the clinical application of CAR-T technology. The fact that, 10 years after the infusion, there are patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia in remission, leads us to say that with this type of cells it is possible to obtain long remissions, without the need to resort to other interventions, such as stem cell transplant, for example. This work leads us to think that we are proceeding on the right path. Indeed, it demonstrates that it is possible to obtain long-term remissions both in the disease in which CAR-T cells were first tested, ie chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We have indeed three patients who have achieved approximately three years of disease remission without having done any other treatment.
Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia
Every year about 30 thousand Italians fall ill with a blood cancer and the number of diagnoses is destined to increase together with the general aging of the population, given that these are typical pathologies of advanced age. Fortunately, however, life expectancy today is higher and 7 out of 10 sick people can aspire to recovery. Chronic lymphatic leukemia, of which more or less 3 thousand new cases are diagnosed per year in our country, a blood cancer considered incurable but which today is still kept under control: the average survival of patients in fact exceeds 10 years from diagnosis. Not infrequently this neoplasm can only be kept under control because it does not give symptoms and does not progress. When the disease progresses, treatments are necessary, which are generally effective, but in a small percentage of patients things get complicated and today various treatments, even experimental ones, are available for those who do not respond to standard care. perspective that participating in an experimentation can be an important opportunity for patients.
February 3, 2022 (change February 3, 2022 | 14:11)
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