CAR-T Therapy Continues to Perform Well for Patients Unresponsive to Chemotherapy

CAR-T immunotherapy involves equipping T cells extracted from a patient with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), expanding them in culture, and then reintroducing these genetically engineered T cells into the patient. The artificial receptor allows the T cells to aggressively respond to the patient's cancer, as it is targeted to a cell surface feature that is characteristic of cancer cells. Different cancers have different features, and thus different CARs are used. CAR-T therapies were first trialed for blood cancers, and continue to do well on this front, as noted here. A CAR T-cell therapy has generated deep, sustained remissions in patients who had relapsed from several previous therapies, an international clinical trial has found. The trial leaders report that almost 75% of the participants responded to the therapy, known as idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel), and one-third of them had a complete response, or disappearance of all signs of their cancer. These rates, and the duration of the responses, are significantly better than those produced by currently available therapies for patients with multiple relapses. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells, which are white blood cells responsible for making antibodies against invasive germs. Standard treatment for myeloma includes three main classes of therapy: immunomodulatory drugs, proteasome inhibitors (which block the action of protein-degrading structures in cells), and anti-CD38 antibodies. Patients w...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs