New leukemia cell therapy possible breakthrough for cancer treatment

A new leukemia cell therapy is a possible breakthrough in cancer treatment, according to a recent study in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center conducted the largest study yet with advanced leukemia patients, specifically those with adult B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). About 6,000 Americans will be diagnosed with ALL this year, according to the American Cancer Society's report.

The cell therapy used, also called cancer immunotherapy, extracts T cells from the patient and alters them so they can recognize and kill cancer cells containing the protein CD19, at which point they are inserted back in.

This kind of leukemia immunotherapy resulted in complete remission for five out of the 16 patients tested, with a follow up study on the remaining 11 patients revealing that 88 percent had a complete response to the cell therapy, meaning there was no molecular evidence of the disease.

Co-senior author Dr. Michel Sadelain, director of the Center for Cell Engineering at Memorial Sloan Kettering, describes how this breakthrough in cell therapy may succeed where other treatments didn't.

"Our initial findings have held up in a larger cohort of patients and we are already looking at new clinical studies to advance this novel therapeutic approach in fighting cancer," he stated in Medical News Today.

Most patients with B-ALL relapse after receiving conventional chemotherapy, and only 30 percent survive further chemotherapy treatment; without a bone marrow transplant, long-term survival is slim. Unfortunately, not much is known about long-term effects for this new cell therapy, and the study could not be made long-term because some patients became eligible for the curative bone marrow transplant option.

The researchers note that only 5 percent of patients with relapsed B-ALL have been suitable for bone marrow transplantation.

The cell therapy also produces some side effects, such as flu-like symptoms, including a fever, low blood pressure, pain, difficulty breathing and a condition known as cytokine release syndrome.