Illustration of Cytotoxic T cells capturing cancer cells.Photo:Getty
Getty
A cancer treatment that has been in use for several types of blood cancer since 2017 has been linked to the development of lymphoma.
The FDAannounced in a releaseon Tuesday that they have discovered several cases of lymphoma in patients who received CAR-T treatments for various blood cancers. According to the National Cancer Institute, the treatment involves replicating a patient’s T cells — a type of white blood cell — and reprogramming them so they can be infused back into the patient to target and kill the cancer cells.
CAR-T treatments used to target diseases, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma, which is a cancer of the plasma cells, are among those involved in the malignancies that the FDA has discovered.
The FDA also noted that the “overall benefits” of CAR-T treatments “continue to outweigh their potential risks,” but they are investigating cases where the T cell malignancy resulted in “serious outcomes, including hospitalization and death.”
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The New York Timesspoke to two doctors who administer the cancer treatment, and neither of them had ever seen a patient develop a new form of cancer as a result.
Washington University School of Medicine’s Dr. John DiPersio told theTimesthat he has not “seen a single” patient develop a new cancer as a result of the treatment, which has been administered to an estimated 500-700 patients where he works.
DiPersio also shared that the treatment is used on patients who would otherwise die as a result of their diagnosis. “They are all going to die and they are all going to die quickly without this treatment. It saves their life,” he told the outlet. “It works in a substantial portion of patients. The benefit is enormous.”
Dr. Marcela V. Maus, the director of cellular immunotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital, echoed DiPersio’s sentiments. Of the malignancies, she said, “We haven’t observed it.”
The FDA noted in the release that it is still “evaluating the need for regulatory action.”
source: people.com
