A new cancer treatment has achieved near-complete tumour regression in just five days, in what scientists have hailed as 'dramatic and rapid' results.
Glioblastomas are a fast-growing type of brain tumour, which are the most common type of cancerous brain tumour in adults. CAR-T therapy works by using a patient's own cells to fight cancer, and is known as the most personalised way to treat the disease. CAR-T therapies have been approved for the treatment of blood cancers but the therapy's use for solid tumours is limited.
Three patients took part in the study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, between March 2023 and July 2023. The T cells of the patients were collected and changed into the new version of CAR-TEAM cells, which were then put back into each patient. Assistant professor Bryan Choi from Harvard Medical School said: "This is a story of bench-to-bedside therapy, with a novel cell therapy designed in the laboratories of Massachusetts General Hospital and translated for patient use within five years, to meet an urgent need.
One of the patients, a 72 year old man, saw a 60.7 per cent decrease in his tumour which was sustained for six months, while a 57 year old woman had near complete tumour regression only five days after a single infusion.