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Oklahoma doctors unveiled on Wednesday what they call a revolutionary new treatment for cancer patients. The treatment exploits the body's immune cells to fight tumors. It will be available starting Thursday at Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Medicine. T-CAR cell therapy has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Officials said his initial use was for two different blood cancers, one affecting children and the other adults. "CAR T is a breakthrough for patients who have not improved with standard treatments," said Dr. George Selby, director of the transplant and cell therapy program at Stephenson Cancer Center. "It's an immune therapy in which we exploit our own cells to recognize cancer cells. This is what a normal immune system does: it plays a monitoring role so that when a malignant cell develops, it is killed by our immune system. CAR T is a way to "restart" the immune system in case of failure. At first, CAR T will be used to treat advanced lymphomas in adults. In the coming months, doctors plan to offer similar treatment for acute lymphoblastic lymphoma in children and young adults. In either case, patients should have failed to respond to standard chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation. CAR T represents T cell therapy of chimeric antigen receptors. Patients treated with CAR T will first have their blood drawn from the Oklahoma Blood Institute in a process similar to a typical blood donation. T cells, a type of white blood cell involved in immunity, are filtered and plasma and red blood cells are returned to the patient. The T cells are then sent to a company that injects them with the gene for a chimeric antigen receptor, known to bind to cancer cells and activate T cells, according to hospital officials. This process allows newly designed T cells to recognize and attack cancer with remarkable efficiency. Once the CAR T cells are generated, they are sent back to the Stephenson Cancer Center and given to the patient intravenously, as a blood transfusion, officials said. "Until the advent of CAR T, if a patient's tumor reappeared after a stem cell transplant, his options were very limited or nonexistent," Selby said. "This is a major breakthrough for patients for whom standard treatment has not been effective." Unlike other types of cancer treatments, CAR T is a unique treatment, officials said. T cells remain in the body and, if the cancer recurs, they reactivate to attack the tumors. "These T cells kill hundreds or even thousands of tumor cells. The nickname of these cells is "serial killers," said Dr. Adam Asch, deputy director of the Stephenson Cancer Center and head of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology. Against cancer has been the holy grail for oncologists, says Asch. "The research data that led to CAR T's approval was extraordinary," Asch said. "This therapy appears to be sustainable in a high percentage of these patients." According to the authorities, clinical trials are underway to investigate the effectiveness of T CAR treatment in the treatment of other blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, as well as solid tumors. Another trial will investigate the effectiveness of CAR T compared to a transplant; CAR T could potentially pass before the transplant as a treatment because of its ability to use the patient's immune system rather than that of someone else. The Stephenson Cancer Center will participate in several such clinical trials.
Oklahoma doctors unveiled on Wednesday what they call a revolutionary new treatment for cancer patients.
The treatment exploits the body's own immune cells to fight tumors. It will be available starting Thursday at Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Medicine.
T-cell-based therapy has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Officials said his initial use was for two different blood cancers, one affecting children and the other adults.
"CAR T is a breakthrough for patients who have not improved with standard treatments," said Dr. George Selby, director of the transplant and cell therapy program at Stephenson Cancer Center. "It's an immune therapy in which we exploit our own cells to recognize cancer cells. This is what a normal immune system does: it plays a monitoring role so that when a malignant cell develops, it is killed by our immune system. CAR T is a way to "restart" the immune system in case of failure.
CAR T will initially be used to treat advanced lymphoma in adults. In the coming months, doctors plan to offer similar treatment for acute lymphoblastic lymphoma in children and young adults. In both cases, patients must have failed to respond to standard chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation.
CAR T stands for T cell therapy of chimeric antigen receptors. Patients treated with CAR T will first have their blood drawn from the Oklahoma Blood Institute in a process similar to a typical blood donation. T cells, a type of white blood cell involved in immunity, are filtered and plasma and red blood cells are returned to the patient. The T cells are then sent to a company that injects them with the gene for a chimeric antigen receptor, known to bind to cancer cells and activate T cells, according to hospital officials.
This process allows newly designed T cells to recognize and attack cancer with remarkable efficiency. Once the CAR T cells are generated, they are sent back to the Stephenson Cancer Center and given to the patient intravenously, as a blood transfusion, officials said.
"Until the advent of CAR T, if a patient's tumor reappeared after a stem cell transplant, his options were very limited or nonexistent," Selby said. "This is a major breakthrough for patients for whom standard treatment has not been successful."
Unlike other types of cancer treatments, CAR T is a unique treatment, officials said. T cells remain in the body and, if the cancer recurs, they reactivate to attack the tumors.
"These T cells continue to kill hundreds of thousands of tumor cells. The nickname of these cells is "serial killers," said Dr. Adam Asch, deputy director of the Stephenson Cancer Center and head of the division of medical oncology and hematology.
Using the immune system to fight cancer has been the Holy Grail for oncologists, said Asch.
"The research data that led to CAR T's approval was extraordinary," Asch said. "This therapy seems to be sustainable in a high percentage of these patients."
According to officials, clinical trials are underway to study the effectiveness of T CAR in the treatment of other blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, as well as solid tumors. Another trial will investigate the effectiveness of CAR T compared to a transplant; CAR T could potentially pass before the transplant as a treatment because of its ability to use the patient's immune system rather than that of someone else. The Stephenson Cancer Center will participate in several such clinical trials.
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