Personalized medicine is a growing area in the medical field focused in an individualized approach to drug therapy based on an individual’s genetic makeup. T-Cell therapy is a technique currently gaining steam in the personalized medicine field, especially for those suffering from Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Mantle Cell Lymphoma is a cancer of the white blood cells often referred to as a type of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Essentially, this type of cancer causes your B Cell lymphocytes to multiply at an out-of-control rate resulting in tumor formation in lymph nodes and/or bone marrow. Because the cancer often isn’t discovered until it’s metastasized, the prognosis is typically bleak. Therefore, the breakthroughs being made with T-Cell therapy is quite exciting.
An article published this month in Lymphoma News Today discusses the proposal of a new CAR T-Cell therapy treatment called KTE-X19 to the FDA and EMA. CAR T-Cell therapy takes a patient’s T-Cells into the lab and genetically modifies them to recognize specific cancer molecules. KTE-X19 is designed to recognize a protein called CD19 found on the surface of some malignant B-Cells. A differentiating factor in this treatment from other T-Cell therapies targeting lymphomas is the ability to separate circulating tumor cells from immune cells. The results of the patient study done on this therapy are discussed in more detail in an article on the American Journal of Managed Care website. The study’s results showed that 85% of the entire study cohort achieved an objective response to the treatment. While that and a few other measures indicated promising success for the treatment, the study also found side effects. The article refers to the adverse side effects as grade 3 or higher with 91% of patients experiencing cytokine release syndrome, a condition characterized by multiple organ issues. Other common side-effects include infections and cytopenias, but according to the researchers all of the side effects were largely reversible.
While the side effects are certainly something to note, the results of this study and their proposal to national approving agencies is exciting for the field. Especially for a condition like MCL which typically only sees a ten-year survival rate between 5 and 10%, these drug therapies have great potential to change people’s lives. If continued success is seen in this therapy for lymphomas, doors may even be opened for further research on other cancers or auto-immune diseases. Long-term studies will still be needed of course to see 5 and 10 year outcomes. These glimmers of hope are always welcome in world of drug research, even if further fine tuning is still necessary.
Victims of Virulence 
