It’s been about 18 years since a four year girl diagnosed with neuroblastoma (a solid tumor cancer) received her first CAR T-cell therapy in clinical trial. Now in her 20’s, she’s been cancer-free for nearly two decades, one of the longest reported remissions following this breakthrough therapy.
However, while tens of thousands of patients have been treated to date with CAR T-cell therapies worldwide, many with great success, this particular case stands as a testament to science, and most importantly, where it is headed.
You see, the vast majority of CAR T-cell recipients are treated for hematological or blood cancers, as solid tumors like neuroblastoma have been, thus far, difficult to effectively target. Unfortunately for most of the patients in the trial cited above, the results were mixed.
Of the 19 children treated with CAR T-cell therapy (all diagnosed with neuroblastoma), 12 unfortunately died within seven years of treatment, and five were disease free after 10-15 years, with one patient (the young lady mentioned above) still in remission.
But a new clinical trial is soon taking place in India, with the ultimate objective to make cell therapy accessible to more patients.
CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) in collaboration with SunAct Cancer Institute, has entered a Phase 1/Phase 2 clinical trial using CytoMed’s proprietary allogeneic gamma delta T cells for treating various cancers, including solid tumors.
Peter Choo, Chairman of CytoMed Therapeutics said, “CytoMed’s collaboration with SunAct is timely and complements our core focus of harnessing CytoMed’s proprietary off-the-shelf technologies to develop novel donor-derived cell-based allogeneic immunotherapies for the treatment of various cancers at affordable cost.
“We are aligned with the foresight of our partner SunAct to provide affordable no-option cancer therapeutics that could improve patients’ quality of life.”
Ultimately, should the trial prove successful, the company hopes to increase remission rates for solid tumor patients, while creating a CAR T-cell therapy that is far more affordable, wide ranging and accessible.
To read more about the CytoMed/SunAct collaboration, visit HERE
Or, to read more about the young lady who is nearing the two decade mark in remission, visit HERE
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