Cancer remains to be one of the leading causes of death all over the world. According to the World Health Organization, cancer is responsible for almost ten million deaths in 2020, equivalent to one in six.
In most patients, it may take time to accept the diagnosis and adjust to a lifestyle with advanced cancer. Although not all cancer patients can be cured, some may expect to live for a certain period. Individuals with curable types of cancer may need to face the side effects of the therapy options given to them.
There are also cases, where a cancer patient may need to try other treatment options if the therapy initially recommended does not work.
Finding Hope in an Innovative Treatment
In 2010, a 61-year-old Brazilian named Paulo Peregrino was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After ten years, he suffered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The doctors informed him that there was no chance of improving his cancer.
He tried all the options for treating lymphoma, making him undergo 45 chemotherapy sessions and a bone marrow transplant in five years. However, none of these helped Peregrino improve his health condition.
His doctors thought that the only action that could be taken was to provide him with palliative care. Because of this, Peregrino was chosen to undergo an innovative treatment known as CAR-T cell therapy, considered the most advanced cancer treatment to date.
After one month of undergoing cutting-edge treatment, Peregrino's entire tumor disappeared. He was discharged from the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. Of the handful of patients who were given this therapy in Brazil, about 60% saw their cancer vanish in just 30 days. The procedure is very limited in the country, and Peregrino is just one of the few Brazilians to undergo this treatment.
A 62-year-old man named Vamberto Luiz de Castro was the first person in Brazil to receive CAR-T cell therapy. In less than 20 days of treatment sessions, no more tumors were detected in his body. Although virtually cured, he died in an unrelated domestic accident a few months after completing the therapy.
READ ALSO : Cancer Therapy Puts Severe Lupus Patients into Remission After Three Months of Treatment
How Does CAR-T Cell Therapy Work?
CAR-T cell therapy started in the U.S. and was used experimentally in curing patients with terminal cancer in the 2010s. In 2017, this treatment approach gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The process, which takes around 60 days, includes removing and isolating immune cells known as T lymphocytes from the body. The T lymphocytes, also called T cells, are the ones that fight pathogens and kill the infected cells. Once the T cells are removed, they are engineered to be more effective in targeting and eliminating cancer cells. Afterward, they are infused back into the body of the patient.
Although the treatment was proven effective, it can cost hundreds of thousands per individual. It is only currently used in treating certain types of cancer like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. CAR-T cell therapy is available in some countries, such as China, the U.S., Australia, and the U.K.
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