The audience at the American Society of Hematology [ASH] annual meeting held December 5-8, 2015 heard breakthrough results of a therapy known as CAR T-cell treatment, immunotherapy that uses modified genes to trigger an immune response. It has been extremely successful with pediatric patients suffering lymphocytic leukemia. 93% of pediatric patients (55 of 59) with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) went into remission after receiving an investigational therapy made from their own immune cells. In a study of 53 children with the chronic form of the disease, [CLL], 95% achieved complete remission.
Findings from these two clinical trials, conducted by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania including Dr. Carl June, and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, expand work with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapies, building on initial findings originally funded by ACGT in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Other clinical trials utilizing CAR technology are currently underway for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, mesothelioma, ovarian, pancreatic and brain cancer.