Treatment found to reduce progression of rare blood cancer by 74% (Carvykti helps multiple myeloma )

Medical Xpress / AFP / American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting ^ | June 5, 2023 | Oreofe Odejide et al

[ConservativeMind]

A treatment that involves genetically modifying the body's own immune cells has been found to cut the risk of disease progression by 74 percent in people with a rare type of blood cancer, results showed.

Ciltacabtagene autoleucel—also known by Carvykti—was tested in a clinical trial involving 419 patients with multiple myeloma, whose disease was not responsive to the current frontline drug lenalidomide, a chemotherapy medicine.

Multiple myeloma affects a type of white blood cells called plasma cells, and can cause cascading harms to the bones, kidneys, and immune health.

There is currently no cure, though progression can be stopped for a long time.

In the clinical trial, half the patients were randomly assigned ciltacabtagene autoleucel, while the other half received a cocktail of drugs that represents the current standard of care.

"After a median follow-up of 16 months, researchers found ciltacabtagene autoleucel reduced risk of disease progression by 74 percent, compared with the standard-of-care treatments," a press statement said.

Ciltacabtagene autoleucel is a type of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, a newer form of treatment.

CAR T-cell therapy involves removing patient's disease fighting T cells, and genetically engineering them in a lab so they have specific proteins known as receptors that, once returned to the body, will seek out and destroy cancer cells.

Nearly all patients in both groups experienced severe to life-threatening adverse events, including infections and low blood cell counts.

[ConservativeMind]

This immunotherapy helped a lot, but caused severe to life-threatening events.

[ConservativeMind]

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[icclearly]

This technology treats many blood cancers, including multiple myeloma. There are many types of blood cancers.

As a blood cancer patient, I know a little about this subject. The technology is amazing, but it can be very intrusive, and the side effects from the treatment can be debilitating and even deadly -- but so can blood cancer. The treatment is only available for those who have failed other treatments. Cost = About $500,000.