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'Living Drug' That Fights Cancer By Harnessing The Immune System Clears Key Hurdle (npr.org)
An anonymous reader shares an NPR report: A new kind of cancer treatment that uses genetically engineered cells from a patient's immune system to attack their cancer easily cleared a crucial hurdle Wednesday. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee unanimously recommended that the agency approve this "living drug" approach for children and young adults who are fighting a common form of leukemia. The agency doesn't have to follow the committee's recommendation but usually does. The treatment takes cells from a patient's body, modifies the genes, and then reinfuses those modified cells back into the person who has cancer. If the agency approves, it would mark the first time the FDA has approved anything considered to be a "gene therapy product." The treatment is part of one of the most important developments in cancer research in decades -- finding ways to harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer. And while it has generated much hope, there are some concerns about its safety over the long term -- and its cost.
A friend of mine is alive today because he was part of one of the early trials.
He had been told by his doctor, just before he was accepted into the trial, that he should start putting his affairs in order.
If I recall correctly, he is 7 years cancer free now.
First law of people: People are generally stupid.
That's a good question, and I'm not certain that the researchers could definitively say yes or no.
I should note that the white blood cells (lymphocytes) that were grown in the lab were those selected to attack the cancerous cells. Some of those T lymphocytes may also have the "memory" for identifying the other foreign items from which I've already acquired immunity. In addition, as part of the treatment, twenty-four hours after receiving the new white blood cells that were grown in the lab, I was given a pint of the blood stem cells that were extracted before treatment, mostly to counteract the effects of the total body radiation on the stem cells in my bone marrow for the trial. (The researchers were trying to determine if they got better survival results with this treatment by giving 12 Grays of radiation versus no radiation. Ultimately, they determined from the trial that the radiation showed little improvement in overall survival.)
I do know that my allergies have changed since my treatment. In fact, they've moderated a bit. My first month or so after treatment, it seemed like I had seasonal allergies to everything, but that has pretty much faded away and ragweed and cottonwood seasons don't seem to affect me much anymore.
Also, my doctors had me on an antibiotic (Bactrim) for at least six months post-treatment, because of the increased risk of contracting a certain type of pneumonia (PCP) because of my suppressed immune system.