Rare Case in Breakthrough Leukemia Treatment

An unusual death has raised concerns in a groundbreaking cancer treatment. A rogue cell, altered by the therapy, spiraled out of control and caused a fatal relapse.

This leukemia treatment is a form of immunotherapy that genetically engineers a patient’s own white blood cells to fight cancer. The therapy is experimental and does not always work, which was the case for a 20-year-old man. The man’s name was not released to protect patient privacy.

The treatment changed not only his cancer-fighting cells but also the genes of one leukemia cell. The genetic change made that cell invisible to the ones that had been programmed to seek and destroy cancer.

At first, it had seemed that the patient was in full remission, but while the rogue cell was going unseen, it was multiplying uncontrollably. These new leukemia cells caused a relapse nine months later and killed him.

His cells were engineered at the University of Pennsylvania, where the treatment, called CAR-T therapy, was developed in collaboration with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the drug company Novartis. Researchers say that the case was a rare event, never seen before and that there is no evidence of this problem in cells engineered by Novartis, other drug companies or other research centers.

1 Comment

  1. fuglsang

    Depending how common this treatment is, this could be a story with impact. Even if it’s not used a lot, people who are looking for alternative treatments need to know this.

    What did you think of the lead? The quotes? The organization?

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