A new cancer treatment called CAR T-cell Therapy is showing some promising results.
A groundbreaking new clinical trial of a cancer treatment has managed to make a patient’s cancer disappear a mere month after the therapy was commenced.
According to WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland, Denise Kennan, 66, has had her cancer miraculously disappear after participating in a new cancer treatment called CAR T-cell Therapy.
“My name is Denise and I’m the first CAR T-cell patient at Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals.”
Denise was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2009 and has been in and out of remission ever since, having tried many different cancer treatments in the past to help her beat the dreadful disease.
“So, I started getting used to the idea of not being here anymore,” Denise said.
“She’s convinced me probably a hundred times over the years that she was a goner,” said her husband of 35 years, Jim Kennan.
Pet scans then showed that the cancer had returned and spread to her lungs and chest. As a result of this news, Denise made the decision to participate in the clinical trial back in August.
According to WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland, CAR T-cell Therapy is “delivered in a single syringe and re-engineers T-cells to seek out and destroy the cancer cells.” The treatment, which is offered at University Hospitals, is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation and sees the facility “engineering and processing cells in their own lab.”
Hematology and oncology specialist Doctor Paolo Caimi explained how the new treatment worked.
“We collect the patient’s cells they get modified with a particular virus that introduces the genetic modification over 12 to 14 days.”
Even though Denise’s cancer had disappeared just 30 days after the trial began, Dr. Caimi is still hesitant to call the treatment a complete success.
“The jury’s still out as far as how long this is gonna last because they just don’t have a lot of long-term data,” she said.
It is still unclear exactly how this new cancer treatment works and why some people respond better than others using this new therapy. However, experts believe that the clinical trial has shown some very promising results. In particular, it is believed that this new form of cancer treatment will work best on those suffering from cancers of the blood and organs.
However, for Denise Keenan, the news simply means she gets to enjoy life for a little time longer.
“The future is unknown so just enjoy the moment. I think you’re a lot happier if you can do that.”
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