Revolutionary Cancer Treatment

Scientists are claiming “extraordinary” success following the early trials for a potential cancer treatment in which modified white blood cells target certain types of cancer, according to an announcement Monday.
During two separate studies, patients were treated with the modified white blood cells, known as T-cells, which were removed from their bodies, tagged with “receptor” molecules that target cancer, and placed back into their bodies through infusion. In the study conducted with patients who suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 94 percent of the participants’ symptoms vanished entirely. In the second study conducted with patients who suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, 80 percent of the patients responded positively to the treatments whereas over half of them became symptom-free. “This is extraordinary,” lead researcher professor Stanley Riddell from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle told Fox News. “This is unprecedented in medicine to be honest, to get response rates in this range in these very advanced patients.” The modified T-cells, which had been engineered with new targeting mechanisms known as chimeric antigen receptors, were essentially programmed to specifically seek out and destroy patients’ tumor cells. This innovative treatment currently is meant to be used as a last-ditch treatment for those suffering from certain types of terminal cancers when other treatment methods had failed, adding that the scientists are continuing their research into the treatment and seeking to expand its usage for treatment in other types of cancer.