Scientists have received positive results of testing a new drug from leukemia

Scientists managed to create a cure for leukemia, which once again confirmed its effectiveness. In clinical trials, it was found that tumors in 71% of patients with terminal leukemia decreased or even completely disappeared.

High risk group

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, was conducted with the participation of 24 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, for whom other treatments were ineffective. The age of the patients ranged from 40 to 73 years. In addition, before participating in the study, each of them received on average five different therapies, including treatment with "Ibrutinib" - a widely used drug against this type of cancer. This put participants in a high-risk group with a low survival rate.

Clinical trials

A team of scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center used an early treatment called the Timorative Receptor Immunotherapy (CAR). In this type of therapy, the patient's own T cells are extracted from his blood and changed in the laboratory. In this case, they were modified to recognize the CD19 antigen on the surface of cancer cells.

These modified cells were then injected back into patients, as a result of which they could fight against leukemia, multiplying and hunting for cancer cells with the CD19 antigen. Researchers report that after six and a half months in 17 of 24 patients, the tumors decreased or completely disappeared.

"Previously, it was not known whether T-cell immune therapy could be used to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which are also at high risk," said lead author Dr. Cameron Tartle, an immunotherapy researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Center. "Our study shows that CAR T cells are a very promising treatment for patients with CLL who do not benefit from the treatment with Ibrutinib."

What is CLL?

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a disease that begins in the bone marrow of a person (in a soft tissue inside the bones where blood cells are formed). In patients with CLL, the bone marrow produces too many abnormal lymphocytes (pathological type of leukocytes).

As the disease develops, these abnormal lymphocytes can cluster and grow in the lymph nodes, spleen and liver. The size of such "lymphoid tumors" can be measured using various types of scanning.

Healthy lymphocytes are protective cells of the body that help fight infection, but in CLL patients they work incorrectly and cause chaos. According to the estimates of the American Cancer Society, chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2017 will cause 4,660 deaths. Also expected around 20110 new cases of the disease.

Side effects

The new therapy has significant side effects, although most of them are reversible. During the study, about 83% of patients experienced cytokine release syndrome, a common complication after T-cell therapy with symptoms such as fever, nausea, chills and abnormally low blood pressure. Unfortunately, two patients were hospitalized, and one died during treatment.

Four weeks after the treatment, the researchers analyzed bone marrow samples from 12 patients who, due to treatment, were in a state of remission to check whether this condition persisted after therapy was completed. Of these, seven did not have malignant cancer cells.

The study is still at an early stage, but it already has significant prospects. Side effects are undoubtedly a problem, although the potential benefits exceed them significantly.