Cancer patients have been cured after doctors charged their blood’s immune cells in a lab.
Two adults with leukemia have been in remission since 2010 after Car-T therapy.
It involves removing blood and genetically modifying the white blood cells so that they target cancer.
The resulting Car-T cells are re-injected into a type of immunotherapy that uses the body’s immune system to attack tumors.
Levels of the cells in the two healed patients remain high.
dr. Carl June, of the University of Pennsylvania, said: “Based on these results, we can conclude that Car-T cells can cure leukemia.
“These cells continued to exhibit tumor-killing characteristics.”
Patient Doug Olsen said doctors couldn’t find cancer after a few weeks. He said, “I knew the doctors weren’t sure, but I was pretty sure I was done with cancer.”
The NHS offers Car-T to some children with leukemia and adults with lymphoma.
It warns that the therapy can overreact the immune system or cause side effects such as fever, vomiting, or breathing difficulties.
This story originally appeared on The sun and is reproduced here with permission.