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25
Jun 2019
Pioneering ‘living drug’ gives hope to terminal blood cancer patients
A new pioneering treatment has been offered to lymphoma patients which genetically re-programmes their immune system to fight cancer.
The new CAR-T therapy, is a ‘living drug- which is personalised to each patient by using their body’s own cells.
The process involves with removal of white blood cells, also known as T-cells, from the patient’s blood. The cells are frozen in liquid nitrogen and the white blood cells are genetically re-programmed so that instead of killing viruses and bacteria, they will locate and destroy cancer cells.
As it is a ‘living drug-, the cells remain in the body for a long time, continuing to grow and work inside the patient.
Although this is a new therapy and does not have the benefit of long-term data, clinical trials have shown that 40 per cent of patients had all signs of their otherwise untreatable terminal lymphoma eradicated from their body around 15 months after treatment.
Victoria Potter, consultant haematologist at King’s College London, said “It is a very exciting new development and it gives new hope to a lot of our patients.
“It’s amazing to be able to see these people, who you may have not been able to give any hope to, actually achieving remission.
“And that is a situation we have never seen before and it’s an incredibly impressive change in the treatment paradigm.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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