CANCER patients have been cured after medics turbocharged their blood’s immune cells in a lab.
Since 2010, two leukaemia patients have experienced remission after Car-T therapy.
It involves removing the blood and genetically changing its white cells in order to target cancer.
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The resulting Car-T cells are re-injected in a type of immunotherapy which uses the body’s immune system to attack tumours. Two patients who were cured of their cancers have high levels of these cells.
Dr Carl June, of the University of Pennsylvania, US, said: “Based on these results, we can conclude that Car-T cells can cure leukaemia.
“These cells continued to demonstrate tumour-killing characteristics.”
Doug Olsen, patient, said that after only a few more weeks, doctors could not diagnose any cancer. He stated: “I knew the doctors weren’t sure but I was pretty convinced that I was done with cancer.”
Car-T is offered by the NHS to certain children with leukaemia as well as adults with lymphoma.
It warns that the therapy could cause over-reaction or side effects, such as vomiting, fever, and breathing difficulties.