CAR-T Cancer Treatment Could Help You Live Longer

In a recent article by Andrea Tamayo, she writes about a girl who got cancer treatment 18 years ago when she was four. This treatment is known as CAR-T cell therapy. Since receiving this treatment 18 years ago, she has been labeled "the longest-surviving patient with cancer." Typically, this treatment is used for blood cancers since solid cancers, like neuroblastoma, are usually more challenging to treat with this specific treatment. A clinical trial performed by Helen Heslop proved that CAR-T therapy does work on solid cancer since this is the exact trial that the 18-year-old survivor came from. However, the trial also resulted in only 7 survivors out of the 19 participants. 

In my opinion, I think that this treatment is a step in the right direction to finally find a cure for cancer. Although, there are clearly some adjustments that would need to be made since it currently doesn't help all forms of cancer fully. 

Possible Improvements to CAR-T Treatment

CAR-T is a developing treatment option for leukemia and lymphoma patients which utilizes a patients immune system to fight off cancer cells. It works drawing blood and extracting T-cells from a patient. The T-cells are then genetically modified to produce chimeric antigen receptors, or CARs, which will allow them to identify and attack the cancerous cells. Once T-cells are injected back into the body, they begin to multiply. The multiplication causes a violent reaction, but doctors have learned to control the shock. This technique creates a "living drug" which will live and continue to generate in patient's body.

This treatment has recently been approved by the FDA and has been showing promising results. There are a few problems, however. Firstly, the price is astronomical. Second, there is a high frequency of relapse in patients.

Scientists are attempting to solve both of these issues. To combat the massive price tag, a generic version of CAR-T cells are being tested. The generic cell can be mass produced, stored, and are not made from the cells of a patient. Removing the process of the unique CAR-T cells should drastically cut the price. To help fight the high relapse rate, scientists are experimenting with adding a second identifying CAR group to the T-cells. The second group will hopefully help the cells identify the cancer cells should the cancer reappear.

I am very eager to see if these techniques of modifying T-cells to fight disease can be applied to other diseases. I think it would be possible to create identification sites for, at least, bacterial infections. I think the main thing holding it back is cost and practicality. It is way easier and cheaper to give antibiotics than it is to create T-cells for less severe conditions.

Links:
https://www.genengnews.com/insights/crafting-a-more-efficient-car-t-cell-industry/
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/08/16/636749192/scientists-race-to-improve-living-drugs-to-fight-cancer#

Using CRISPR to Fight Cancer

CAR-T therapy is a new form of cancer treatment that has been developed over the last few years. It works by modifying the T-cells of a patient to attack the cancerous cells in their body. While results have been promising in some leukemia and lymphoma patients, scientists hope to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. In order to do so, an additional three genes have been removed from the T-cells using CRISPR. Without these genes, the T-cells are able to attack the cancer cells more aggressively.

These initial trials were not testing effectiveness, but safety. The patients who received these modified T-cells showed no significant adverse signs after six months.

I think these results are exciting advancements for cancer treatments. We've known for a long time that each case of cancer is highly specific and it is impossible to create a single treatment that would cure the disease. CRISPR is allowing us to create specific solutions to these specific cases.

Links:
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CAR-T Information

Breakthrough Leukemia Treatment Backfires in a Rare Case

         In recent years, doctors and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania had come up with a very affective leukemia treatment called Kymriah or CAR-T therapy. Kymriah works by removing a patient's white blood cells and finding their T-cells. The lab then introduces a virus to the T-cell that will carry new genetic material to them, making them form the ability to recognize and kill cancer cells as they come across them.
          For the fact that this is still a relatively new treatment for cancer patients, it is still considered experimental. The young man in this case had an extremely persistent and strong form of leukemia, and unfortunately was killed because of a rare occurrence inside the treatment of his cancer. Normally, the doctors will inject the white blood cells and new T-cells back into the body. Some leukemia cells would come out with the white blood cells, but ultimately be killed due to the new genetics of the T-cells, or so it was thought.

         In this rare case, one of the leukemia cells which was picked up during the initial process of collecting the cells, was genetically modified by the virus that was supposed to be only affecting the T-cell. In a result of this, the leukemia cell which was produced was immune to the treatment by the T-cells, resulting in the old leukemia being killed off, and the new leukemia reproducing soon after that.
          Now that scientists and researchers know that this is a possible outcome for this new treatment, they are working on making sure that all of the leukemia cells which are collected with the white blood cells at the beginning of patient treatment are gone before undergoing viral exposure. Although very sad, I believe this extremely rare death to be beneficial to the science community in that we will be able to learn from the mistake of what could possibly happen and be able to create a new drug or treatment in which will better serve these sick individuals.

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