A flurry of new research suggests that scientists are finally discovering a way to harness the immune system to attack merciless brain tumors. Although the results are preliminary, they promise progress against glioblastoma, the deadly cancer that so quickly claimed the lives of Arizona Sen. John McCain and President Joe Biden's son Beau. giving hope.
But while the findings are surprising, they are small. What is needed next is urgent efforts to prove that the effects can help people live longer and better, and to investigate how they can be extended to other types of cancer.
Ever since the first stories of blood cancer patients miraculously brought back from the brink by a treatment known as CAR-T were published more than a decade ago, doctors have dreamed of using the same approach for tumors. Ta. Treatments are tailored. A patient's blood cells are reengineered to find specific proteins on the surface of cancer cells. However, designing treatments that can invade and kill tumors without damaging healthy cells has proven to be an enormous challenge.
An independent study by a team at Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, and City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, California (and published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature Medicine) showed that various CAR- It has been shown that T can shrink glioblastoma. At dramatic speed. For example, in the Mass General study, one patient's tumor was nearly 20% smaller after just 48 hours, and it decreased in size by about 60% in just two months.
This is a surprising result for this aggressive and universally fatal form of cancer. In advanced disease, treatment usually only stops the tumor from growing but does not shrink it.
“Overall, this shows that we've basically opened the door to a whole new type of treatment for glioblastoma,” said Dr. says Marcella Maus, who led the research featured in NEJM.
Researchers have spent decades trying to come up with better treatments, but options remain depressingly limited, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. When the disease returns, options become even more limited and patients are often told to seek clinical trials. As a result, patients are left with a heartbreaking prognosis. Typically, people have only one year to 18 months to live after the disease is detected.
That's why signs of activity, even small and preliminary studies, are so interesting. It was so exhilarating to see tumors begin to melt and, in some cases, completely regress within a day of treatment, that I decided to lead a trial at the same facility and spend 25 years researching this harmful cancer. said Donald O'Rourke, a neurosurgeon in Pennsylvania. I'm having trouble sleeping at night.
There is still a long way to go before treatments are commercially available. First, O'Rourke's team and others need to prove that tumor shrinkage can last and actually help people live longer. “We don't want the MRI to suddenly change and we slap each other in the face and two weeks later the cancer comes back,” O'Rourke said.
Still, there are reasons to be hopeful. Although some patients' tumors have grown back, a small number of patients across various studies appear to have a long-lasting response to treatment. One of the three patients in the Massachusetts General study remained well six months after treatment, and three of his six patients treated by the University of Pennsylvania team. People have had long-lasting responses.
Various teams believe these results can be improved. For example, Penn's team believes that delivering this treatment early in the disease process may be key. Their tailored treatment was given to people whose tumors had come back several times and were actively growing in several areas of the brain, but Professor O'Rourke said: “At that point, you're asking too much for a cure.'' “I'm here,” he says. Providing treatment soon after the first relapse may be the secret to maximizing effectiveness.
The Mass General team believes that preparing the immune system for personalized treatment may lead to more durable responses. Patients enrolled in the trial will then receive a small dose of chemotherapy before cell therapy is administered, an approach they believe will help immune cells survive longer. , says Maus.
These new studies also highlight some important lessons about how genetically engineered immune cells can function beyond the blood. First, they all suggest that the treatment should be done locally (for example, injected into the spinal fluid rather than administered intravenously). It also examines some of the ways scientists have been thinking about targeting tumors. Already, these teams are considering whether similarly designed treatments could be used to treat other types of cancer, such as lung cancer or pancreatic cancer that has spread to the brain.
If any of these projects are to succeed, they will ultimately need industry support. For example, clinical trials need to expand beyond a single hospital site, and commercial partners can provide the large-scale, timely production needed for treatments to arrive. Penn has licensed its technology to Gilead Sciences, but Mass General currently has no such partnership.
These studies highlight fundamental truths in science. Often, applying new technologies to the most difficult diseases simply takes time and effort. But once research begins, it means academia and industry working together to do everything in its power to move the next round of research as quickly as possible towards better options for cancer patients who desperately need research. do.
____
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Lisa Jarvis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Previously, she served as Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News.
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Lisa Jarvis: This brain tumor breakthrough should be exciting
(Note to editors: This column has one photo attached. Filename: LIFE-HEALTH-JARVIS-COLUMN-GET.jpg)
lisa jarvis
bloomberg opinion
(TNS)
A flurry of new research suggests that scientists are finally discovering a way to harness the immune system to attack merciless brain tumors. Although the results are preliminary, they promise progress against glioblastoma, the deadly cancer that so quickly claimed the lives of Arizona Sen. John McCain and President Joe Biden's son Beau. giving hope.
But while the findings are surprising, they are small. What is needed next is urgent efforts to prove that the effects can help people live longer and better, and to investigate how they can be extended to other types of cancer.
Ever since the first stories of blood cancer patients miraculously brought back from the brink by a treatment known as CAR-T were published more than a decade ago, doctors have dreamed of using the same approach for tumors. Ta. Treatments are tailored. A patient's blood cells are reengineered to find specific proteins on the surface of cancer cells. However, designing treatments that can invade and kill tumors without damaging healthy cells has proven to be an enormous challenge.
An independent study by a team at Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, and City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, California (and published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature Medicine) showed that various CAR- It has been shown that T can shrink glioblastoma. At dramatic speed. For example, in the Mass General study, one patient's tumor was nearly 20% smaller after just 48 hours, and it decreased in size by about 60% in just two months.
This is a surprising result for this aggressive and universally fatal form of cancer. In advanced disease, treatment usually only stops the tumor from growing but does not shrink it.
“Overall, this shows that we've basically opened the door to a whole new type of treatment for glioblastoma,” said Dr. says Marcella Maus, who led the research featured in NEJM.
Researchers have spent decades trying to come up with better treatments, but options remain depressingly limited, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. When the disease returns, options become even more limited and patients are often told to seek clinical trials. As a result, patients are left with a heartbreaking prognosis. Typically, people have only one year to 18 months to live after the disease is detected.
That's why signs of activity, even small and preliminary studies, are so interesting. It was so exhilarating to see tumors begin to melt and, in some cases, completely regress within a day of treatment, that I decided to lead a trial at the same facility and spend 25 years researching this harmful cancer. said Donald O'Rourke, a neurosurgeon in Pennsylvania. I'm having trouble sleeping at night.
There is still a long way to go before treatments are commercially available. First, O'Rourke's team and others need to prove that tumor shrinkage can last and actually help people live longer. “We don't want the MRI to suddenly change and we slap each other in the face and two weeks later the cancer comes back,” O'Rourke said.
Still, there are reasons to be hopeful. Although some patients' tumors have grown back, a small number of patients across various studies appear to have a long-lasting response to treatment. One of the three patients in the Massachusetts General study remained well six months after treatment, and three of his six patients treated by the University of Pennsylvania team. People have had long-lasting responses.
Various teams believe these results can be improved. For example, Penn's team believes that delivering this treatment early in the disease process may be key. Their tailored treatment was given to people whose tumors had come back several times and were actively growing in several areas of the brain, but Professor O'Rourke said: “At that point, you're asking too much for a cure.'' “I'm here,” he says. Providing treatment soon after the first relapse may be the secret to maximizing effectiveness.
The Mass General team believes that preparing the immune system for personalized treatment may lead to more durable responses. Patients enrolled in the trial will then receive a small dose of chemotherapy before cell therapy is administered, an approach they believe will help immune cells survive longer. , says Maus.
These new studies also highlight some important lessons about how genetically engineered immune cells can function beyond the blood. First, they all suggest that the treatment should be done locally (for example, injected into the spinal fluid rather than administered intravenously). It also examines some of the ways scientists have been thinking about targeting tumors. Already, these teams are considering whether similarly designed treatments could be used to treat other types of cancer, such as lung cancer or pancreatic cancer that has spread to the brain.
If any of these projects are to succeed, they will ultimately need industry support. For example, clinical trials need to expand beyond a single hospital site, and commercial partners can provide the large-scale, timely production needed for treatments to arrive. Penn has licensed its technology to Gilead Sciences, but Mass General currently has no such partnership.
These studies highlight fundamental truths in science. Often, applying new technologies to the most difficult diseases simply takes time and effort. But once research begins, it means academia and industry working together to do everything in its power to move the next round of research as quickly as possible towards better options for cancer patients who desperately need research. do.
____
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Lisa Jarvis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Previously, she served as Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News.
___
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©2024 Bloomberg LP Visit bloomberg.com/opinion. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
