A new cutting-edge treatment was introduced to patients at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. A 70-year-old patient was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. The lymphoma was killing his energy levels, his motor skills, and his appetite. This encouraged Roswell to treat his lymphoma using CAR T-cell therapy. This therapy uses an advanced approach to gene therapy to teach a patient's immune system to target and destroy their own cancer cells. Doctors use the patients' own blood to extract the T-cells and have lab technicians analyze them. The technicians then genetically engineer the extracted T-cells to seek out specific targets to attack the body's cancer, and then put them back into the body using IV. This new technology can bring a new perspective to the cancer research community and bring families closer together.
CAR T-cell therapy can change how we think of cancer and how we treat cancer. At Roswell, the use of CAR T-cell therapy has been promising and shows positive results. In certain cases of leukemia, the remission rate from this therapy is as high as 90%. This can potentially create a cure that can affect the lives of millions of people. Doctors and researchers are currently working on advancing this therapy to treat other tumors as well. The more we know about this therapy and research more about cancer, the higher the chances will be for surviving cancer and other growing diseases.
https://www.lymphoma.org/understanding-lymphoma/treatment-planning-and-options/treatments/cartcell/
My dad had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, so seeing progress like CAR T-cell therapy gives me real hope for families facing what my family had to go through. The idea that our own immune system can be trained to fight cancer is incredible. I’m grateful for the researchers pushing these boundaries.
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