betloo Singapore doctors develop new cell therapy that saved patients from treatment-resistant cancer

Updated:2024-10-08 02:49    Views:52

SINGAPORE: A team of doctors in Singapore has developed a new cell therapy for cancer patients who have otherwise exhausted all other forms of treatment.

For these patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) that do not respond to chemotherapy or relapse after treatment, the prognosis is normally bad – they have a less than 10 per cent chance of survival.

However, 16 patients who underwent this experimental treatment went into complete remission within a month.

The new cell therapy was developed by researchers and clinicians from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the National University Health System (NUHS).

The treatment has now been published in the medical journal Nature Medicine.

Related:British boy who left Singapore a year ago after life-saving treatment is still cancer-free ‘Our little miracle’: British boy who came to Singapore for treatment for aggressive cancer heads home A NEW CELL THERAPY

T-ALL accounts for about 10 per cent of ALL cases in children. ALL is the most common blood cancer in children.

About 80 per cent of such patients are cured with intensive and prolonged chemotherapy, although this sometimes leaves them very weak. 

For those who relapse or do not respond to chemotherapy, the prognosis is a lot worse. The new therapy is for such patients. 

It uses CAR T-cells, which are a type of immune cell that has been genetically modified to attack cancer cells. 

These CAR T-cells target a protein called CD7, which is found in cancer T-cells. 

But normal T-cells, which form part of the immune system, also have CD7. This causes the CAR T-cells to attack each other.

To prevent this, the researchers included a blocker in the CAR T-cells so they only target cancer T-cells.

It uses a technology developed by Professor Dario Campana’s lab under the Department of Paediatrics at NUS Medicine.betloo

Professor Allen Yeoh with Dr Bernice Oh. (Image: National University Health System)

• New
• Singapore
• develop
• betloo
• Doctors