CAR T-Cell Therapy: Bringing hope to patients with blood cancer

MANILA, Philippines — The evolution of cancer research over the last 30 years has led to many advances in the management of cancer, from improved genetic profiling to the development of precision medicine such as monoclonal antibodies, targeted agents and immunotherapy.

For patients with blood cancer, a new therapy called Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy is making significant breakthroughs in the treatment of complex blood diseases.

Speaking at a hybrid press conference with CanHOPE representatives in Indonesia, Dr. Ang Peng Tiam and Dr. Colin Phipps Diong explained how treatment advances such as CAR T-cell Therapy bring hope to patients whose disease is not controlled by standard treatment.

Blood cancer in Indonesia

Cancer is widely recognized as the leading cause of death in many developed countries, including Singapore, said Dr Ang. But Singapore is not alone.

In the Philippines, 5,795 new patients were diagnosed with leukemia in 2020 and 4,370 deaths in 2020¹. In the last five years, there were 16,835 deaths in total. “It is thus important to understand this disease and the treatments that can be done to minimize morbidity and mortality levels,” Dr. Ang emphasized.

Leukemia in particular is one of the top 10 common cancers² in the Philippines, placing ninth and accounting for about 3.8% of the total cancer incidence in the country.

It’s also one of the most common types of cancer in Filipino males. With this, it is important to address what new treatments such as CAR T-cell Therapy can offer patients with this common type of blood cancer.

Dr. Ang Peng Tiam and Dr. Colin Phipps Diong explained how treatment advances such as CAR T-cell Therapy bring hope to patients whose disease is not controlled by standard treatment.

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CAR T-cell Therapy: What it is and how it works

Research on CAR T-cell Therapy has dominated the scientific community in the fields of hematology and oncology in recent years, garnering billions of dollars for research and development of the treatment.

The revolutionary treatment is a form of immunotherapy that treats complex blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma by genetically engineering a patient’s immune cells to help them fight cancer.

“The patient’s immune cells or T-cells are modified by adding the specific CAR gene to the T-cells,” explained Dr Colin. “This allows the modified cells to recognize and attach onto CD19 targets in order to destroy cancer cells.”

PCC is the first private medical center in Southeast Asia to offer this treatment.

Benefits and challenges

This new therapy has so far seen significant success; overall success rates in achieving remission with CAR T-cell Therapy is 60–80% for lymphomas and 80–90% for leukemias³.

In addition, it offers patients a long-term solution that uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. This is because CAR T-cells are living cells that can survive for an indefinite period of time in the body, shared Dr. Colin.

While this all sounds promising, Dr. Ang stressed an important point that CAR T-cell Therapy is not the standard, first-line treatment for blood cancer.

In fact, the treatment is currently only eligible for patients with certain indications and conditions, specifically resistant and/or refractory cases of B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL).

The treatment is also a complex and expensive one, that involves a 2–3 month-long process that begins with the collection of T-cells via a procedure called apheresis, followed by the cryopreservation of cells to send abroad, where the cells will be genetically modified and grown before being sent back to Singapore to be reinfused into the patient.

It cannot be denied that new advances come with their challenges; but in the case of CAR T-cell Therapy, the benefits outweigh the risks and obstacles for patients whose diseases have relapsed or previously failed to respond to standard treatment, with no other treatment option available.

The significant survival advantage that CAR T-cell Therapy offers these patients, compared to standard treatment, is a testament to the revolutionary advances in the field of hematology, oncology and cell therapy, and brings new hope for survival for patients with various blood diseases.

For more information, visit http://parkwaycancercentre.com. For inquiries, contact Parkway Hospital Singapore’s Patient Assistance Centre (Manila Office) via manila.ph@parkwaypantai.com or its 24-hour helpline at +63917-526-7576. The office is located at the Ground Floor (hotel side) of Marco Polo Ortigas in Meralco Avenue and Sapphire Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines. 

Notes:

¹  International Agency for Research on Cancer (Philippines), 2020
²  International Agency for Research on Cancer (Philippines), 2020
³ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7926700