Cancer is horrible. It can affect everybody, regardless of age, gender or race. Up until recently, there has been no cure for this insufferable disease, however, what would you think if I told you that there is indeed a cure for cancer? Amazing, right? However, there are some slight issues. It’s expensive, hard to access and only works for some people with certain cancers (although it is improving!). This groundbreaking treatment to cancer is called CAR T cell therapy, and has been available on the market for roughly 7 to 8 years now, starting with Novartis’s Kymriah drug for blood lymphoma.
What Are CAR-T Cells?
CAR T cell therapy might sound very scientific, so what does it actually mean? Some of you may know what T cells are, and for those who don’t, they are just the fancy word for our white blood cells! The CAR part is a bit more complex, with it standing for Chimeric Antigen Receptors. To explain what this actually means, it may be better to explain the process of how these CAR T cells are made.
Scientists take your white blood cells from your body through a quick blood transfusion, and then genetically modify the white blood cells, the T cells, into having extra specific antigen receptors that can eat and kill the cancer cells in your body. This has to be done because cancer cells are smart - they can hide from our white blood cells, add extra receptors so that our basic white blood cells can’t engulf them or just multiply at a rate that can’t be destroyed. This is why our cells need to be genetically modified, calling it the chimeric antigen receptor of the T cells.
The genetically modified receptors allow the T cells to effectively identify specific cancer’s unique to the patient, engulf and then finally destroy them. The CAR T cells are produced in abundance in the lab, and are classed as a ‘living drug’. Once reinfused into the bloodstream, the modified cells will attack the lymphoma cancer cells.
The Future of Medicine
Hopefully, you now understand the basics of CAR-T cell therapy. Now let's discuss how it’s the future of medicine, and how it’s potential to fight cancer globally. At the moment the CAR-T therapy can only be used for blood cancers; It’s much easier for the white blood cells to fight cancer in a liquid based substance such as the bloodstream. Current works by researching businesses are aiming to develop more into CAR-T for solid tumours, however this will take lots of time and effort.
Challenges in Accessibility
So why is this treatment not more widely used? As mentioned earlier, there's many issues with pricing and availability along with the specifics of only blood cancer. It can end up costing patients between £300,000 to £1,000,000 in the UK, and is similarly priced in the US. Additionally, it can only be used after multiple rounds of standard chemotherapy or other therapies, meaning you can’t use it the first time round as a therapy.
Looking ahead, many businesses are focusing on reducing the price whilst expanding on who can receive the treatment. Whilst as of 2024 you cannot completely cure all cancers, advances in science over the years may allow us as a world to fight the everlong battle of cancer forever.
Word Count: 564
Bibliography
"Challenges and innovations in CAR-T cell therapy: a comprehensive analysis" Frontiers in Oncology, vol. 14, no. 1399544, 2024, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2024.1399544/full. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
(Example Model Photo)
Exponent. "Realizing the Promise of CAR T-cell Therapy and Companion Diagnostics." Exponent, 19 Jan. 2024, www.exponent.com/article/realizing-promise-car-t-cell-therapy-and-companion-diagnostics. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
(Cell Photo)
"Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in Adults." Kymriah, 2024, us.kymriah.com/diffuse-large-b-cell-lymphoma-adults. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Cleveland Clinic. "CAR T-cell Therapy." Cleveland Clinic, 14 Feb. 2024, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17726-car-t-cell-therapy. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Comments