While multiple myeloma treatment has made significant advances in recent years, the prospect of a cure remains as elusive as ever—just as it does for all cancers.
But that may change soon. And if researchers are right, the key to a possible cure lies not in a new pill, infusion, or injection, but in patients’ own cells.
Specifically, their disease-fighting immune cells. Recently, researchers presented their findings from two clinical trials. The results were, frankly, astounding.
In a trial of nine chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients (CLL), eight patients saw their disease essentially wiped out; six months after the treatment, there was no sign of cancer. And in a trial of 35 multiple myeloma patients, 33 patients’ cancer was eliminated—that’s a whopping 94%.
How can this be possible? Through an innovative type of immunotherapy called CAR-T cell therapy. It starts by taking a sample of the patient’s blood to isolate the immune cells. These cells normally attack foreign invaders like viruses but are ill-equipped to deal with cancer. The immune cells are genetically altered, essentially super-charging them to attack cancer cells. Once injected back into the patient’s body, the new cells multiply and “train” the body to attack cancer cells. In essence, it’s fighting fire with fire, combatting the rapid spread of abnormal cancer with the rapid spread of the body’s own cancer-killing immune cells. As an added bonus, the treatment burden is much, much lighter: rather than going through a rigorous, months’ long treatment schedule, CAR-T cell therapy requires only four hours spread out over a few hospital visits.
While this is extremely encouraging news, we should probably approach it with cautious optimism. The follow-up period for both trials was relatively short, so we don’t know how long the patients’ remission will last. And of course, larger-scale trials are needed to see if the results can be duplicated. But it’s hard NOT to be excited by the promise this innovative therapy holds. Let’s hope that more research will yield more exciting results.
