Leukemia and other blood tumors have always been a huge threat to people’s lives and health. According to statistics, in 2020, the total number of cancer cases and deaths in China was 4.57 million, with leukemia accounting for 62000 and lymphoma accounting for 57000. But blood tumors such as leukemia and lymphoma are not incurable diseases. Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College Affiliated Union Hospital has a cell therapy that can use the patient’s own immune cells to clear cancer cells, known as the “anti-cancer miracle drug.”. So, what technology is this cell therapy called CAR-T? Can CAR-T cell therapy really cure blood tumors? Professor Hu Yu, the director of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, provided an answer on this matter.
T cells are the main force of the human immune system, and clearing and attacking cancer cells is one of their main tasks, but it is unlikely that they can target specific cancer cells. CAR-T cell therapy is the process of extracting T cells from a patient’s body, then genetically modifying them in the laboratory to allow them to expand moderately in vitro, and then infusing them back into the patient’s body. The modified T cells can more accurately recognize cancer cells and perform targeted killing. At the same time, it can also stimulate a significant increase in CAR-T cells in the body, allowing the body to have enough troops to kill cancer cells.
According to Hu Yu, compared to traditional treatment, CAR-T therapy needles are a technological revolution. Through a single cell injection, it can survive in the body for a long time. Under the stimulation of tumors, it can also proliferate and expand to a large quantity to produce a killing effect. CAR-T has broad practicality and can prepare different CARs based on different targets of tumors. In this way, its killing effect on tumors is not limited to a particular type of tumor.
Hu Yu stated that hematological tumors pose a huge threat to human health. In China, the overall situation of treatment for hematological malignancies is constantly improving. Through CAR-T therapy, the overall response rate of refractory and relapsed acute lymphoid leukemia can reach over 90%. But the progression of myeloid leukemia is relatively slow, and the 5-year survival rate of some easily relapsed myeloid leukemia is less than 30%. So in the treatment of blood tumors, there is still a long way to go, and double efforts are needed.
In Hu Yu’s view, CAR-T therapy, as an innovative therapy, is of great significance in improving overall efficacy and alleviating patient pain. Hu Yu gave an example that in addition to the common expression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, CD19 has been proven to have very good therapeutic effects. In terms of plasma cell or multiple myeloma cell diseases, China’s self-developed products are also targeted at BCMA and will also enter the market for application. Peking Union Medical College Hospital conducted an exploration of CAR-T targeting BCMA and CS1 dual target myeloma, with a response rate of 100%.
From the characteristics of this drug, the second benefit it brings is better patient compliance. A single input of cells can survive for a long time, proliferate in the body, and the treatment takes a long time to take effect. Patients do not have to endure the pain of injections and intubation, and their quality of life is improved. (□ Li Xiaodi, Zhao Mengqi, Wu Wenhua)