CORAL GABLES, Fla. – An FDA-approved therapy utilizing immune cell therapy is helping children with certain types of cancer avoid toxic treatments.
Dr. Jorge Glavez Silva, Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, said the gene modifying therapy is for patients who fail conventional therapy.
The process uses the child’s own immune cells to fight B-cell lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemia
“We have seen response up to 80% in the first three months so just to imagine that these type of therapies give that type of ability and hope to the families who before didn’t have a hope 80% chances of being on remission, prior to transplantation it’s great it’s just a good thing to see,” Silva said.
The success of the therapy, called CAR-T, opens the door for more research into less toxic treatments for other types of cancers.
And researchers at the University of Florida have tested a new treatment in mice that suppresses signals that tell immune cells to jump into action.
While human application is still many years away, researchers said their study can help open new avenues for the treatment of lupus and many other diseases that involve chronic inflammation.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body’s own tissues come under attack leading to chronic and painful inflammation.