This is the same treatment that was described in a Nextbigfuture article yesterday. Novartis has the rights to this and is developing it.
“We believe we know why the two patients didn’t respond,” said Penn physician David L. Porter, a cancer and blood specialist. “If we’re right, it’s something we can fix.”
The therapy, culminating 20 years of research, involves genetically engineering T cells – the immune system’s big guns – to attack B cells, the blood component that turns malignant in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Interfering with the immune system, however, is dicey. From the start, it was clear the designer T cells had side effects that caused flulike symptoms.
The modified T cells can attack the patients B cells and set off a self-destructive chain reaction.
The T cells flood the body with signaling chemicals called cytokines, particularly interleukin 6. The interleukin, in turn, stimulated cells called macrophages that normally consume cellular debris.
The macrophages can go on a rampage and consume the patients red blood cells.
A drug tocilizumab (Actemra), a new rheumatoid arthritis drug can stop the dangerous side effects.
Doctors now know how to manage the side effects and they are determining when to provide Actemra to reverse the T cells.
SOURCE – Philly Inquirer
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Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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