Dr. Gerald Gross, a medical oncologist at Roger Maris Cancer Center, says while they are not using the therapy yet, it is hopefully in the works.
The “Living Drug”
The Car-T therapy is using the T-cells we use everyday to fight infections to fight cancer! Dr. Gross explains this therapy was stumbled upon when looking at people who had spontaneous regression of tumors, the tumors were often being infiltrated by the T-cells.
Cancer cells often make them selves “invisible” to T-cells. So, these are cells that are removed from patients (similar to donating blood), the T-cells are put into a solution and processed with a very specific receptor and returned into the patients body.
They will act “like a heat seeking missile” in the body to find the specific marker in some cancers.
Which cancers?
As of now, the Car-T therapy is primarily being used in the relapsed and refractory lymphoma and childhood ALL. It is not used up front. But, that is the hope.
Listen to the podcast above for more information!
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