“Revolutionizing Cancer Care: The Rise of CAR T-Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy”
In recent times, cancer treatment primarily relied on surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy as its mainstays. However, the landscape of cancer care has undergone a profound transformation, introducing new categories of treatment that bring hope and fresh possibilities for those fighting cancer.
One significant shift was the advent of targeted therapies like imatinib (Gleevec) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) in the 2000s. These medications pinpoint and eradicate cancer cells by focusing on specific molecular alterations within those cells. Today, various targeted therapies have become standard treatments for different cancers.
Immunotherapy emerged as a game-changer in the last decade, often termed the “fifth pillar” of cancer treatment. This approach harnesses and enhances the body’s immune system to combat tumors. Immunotherapy drugs have shown remarkable potential, capable of reducing or eliminating tumors in some individuals with advanced cancer. In a subset of patients, these responses to treatment have even lasted several years.
Specifically, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been instrumental in treating cancers like melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder, and lymphoma. Another form of immunotherapy, CAR T-cell therapy, has generated significant excitement among researchers and oncologists.
CAR T-cell therapy has demonstrated comparable effectiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors, particularly in treating highly advanced leukemias and lymphomas. It has also shown the ability to sustain remission for extended periods, sometimes spanning multiple years.
This therapy targets certain types of cancer, especially when other treatments have been ineffective. FDA-approved for diseases like Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Multiple Myeloma, CAR T-cell therapy modifies T cells, a vital component of the body’s immune system responsible for detecting and fighting illness.
Ordinarily, T cells identify antigens — proteins recognizable by the immune system — to eliminate abnormal or foreign substances. However, cancer cells may carry antigens that the body doesn’t recognize as abnormal. CAR T-cell therapy involves modifying these cells in a lab to equip them with a new receptor, enabling them to target and destroy cancer cells.
Although highly effective, CAR T-cell therapy comes at a significant cost, roughly around $450,000 for approved treatments. Despite the expense, its effectiveness has made it more accessible in the United States and European countries, now being a standard treatment for aggressive lymphomas.
The process of CAR T-cell therapy involves collecting T cells from a patient’s blood, engineering them in a lab to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), and infusing them back into the patient. Sometimes, chemotherapy is recommended before the infusion to enhance its effectiveness.
However, like any medical procedure, CAR T-cell therapy can lead to side effects or complications. One severe complication is cytokine release syndrome (CRS), triggered when CAR T cells release cytokines, provoking an immune system response. Symptoms range from fever and fatigue to more severe issues like difficulty breathing or abnormal blood mineral levels.
Following CAR T-cell therapy, patients typically stay in the hospital for about a week to 10 days for close observation and prompt management of side effects. Despite its initial consideration as a last resort, ongoing research indicates the potential for CAR T-cell therapy to outperform standard treatments, potentially even replacing chemotherapy in certain scenarios for cancers like non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Moreover, ongoing trials explore the possibility of using CAR T-cell therapy earlier in treatment protocols, offering promising avenues to spare patients from extended chemotherapy. Overall, CAR T-cell therapy represents a significant advancement in cancer treatment, with ongoing research exploring its potential across various cancer types.
“Embracing Wellness at Every Stage: Your Ultimate Rejuvenation Hub
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New Breed of Homo Sapiens
Lourdes Duque Baron is an award-winning author, film producer, actress, and musician as well as a humanitarian. She is one of the most successful Filipino Americans in the world.
She is also a stem cell advocate for FGAAA- Feeling Good At Any Age One Step Rejuvenation Therapy in California.
She wrote the book Scripted in Heaven, I Called Myself Cassandra, and has an upcoming book When Silence is not Golden, a book about Autism Spectrum Disorder and the New Breed of Homo Sapiens.
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