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The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given initial approval for a blood cancer treatment.
Developed by the University of Pennsylvania and pharmaceutical company Novartis, Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is ideal for patients aged three to 25 with a common type of blood cancer called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). However, only leukemia patients who were not cured by traditional cancer treatments are eligible to receive the treatment.
CAR-T cell therapy begins with the extraction of T cells, or immune cells, from the patient’s blood. T cells are then multiplied and genetically altered to target cancer cells. The replicated T cells from the lab are injected into the patient.
Despite the advantages of the treatment, it still faces several issues. During the trial conducted by Novartis, some patients experienced fever, hallucinations, and problems related to the nervous system. In addition, the treatment can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, the FDA concludes that the therapy’s benefits make up for its side effects.
The FDA’s endorsement of the treatment was strengthened by testimonies of the cancer survivors’ parents. The father of Emily Whitehead, the first child to receive the treatment, shared that his then six-year-old daughter was on the brink of death because of ALL. After the treatment, his daughter has been cancer-free for five years.
Like Novartis, medical company Kite Pharma developed a CAR-T treatment for adults with advanced and aggressive lymphoma, a cancer of immune cells. The decision regarding the treatment’s approval is expected in November.