Groundbreaking Lymphoma Treatments May Bring Great Change

Lymphoma has affected millions of families all over the world, and researchers have been working for years trying to refine treatments and improve patient's quality of life. While there are obviously a lot of treatments currently available for lymphoma patients, researchers have not given up looking for better possible alternatives. Researchers at Cancer Research UK have developed a type of therapy that could significantly improve lymphoma treatment across the board.

CAR T cell therapy expansion

The study involved patients with large B cell lymphoma who were not responding to traditional treatments. The new treatment utilizes and expands upon traditional CAR T cell therapy.

CAR T cell therapy's main purpose is to provide a major boost to the immune system so that it can recognize cancer cells and then destroy them. It does this by focusing on one type of white blood cell, the T cell. The researchers extracted each patient's T cells and modified them using genetic engineering. The new T cells would be able to recognize a specific molecule that appeared on the surface of the cancer cells. The T cells would then be infused back into the patient's bloodstream. Ideally, these new T cells would find the remaining cancer cells and destroy them completely. 

The results were somewhat mixed. Researchers noted that patients who became cancer free stayed cancer free, even after quite a few years. However, not every patient responded to the treatment the same way. While the treatment may have lessened the cancer cells in some patients, in others it had little to no effect on the condition. Still, it was very promising that some patients in the preliminary trials became completely cancer free.

The biggest issue with the treatment is that it is potentially very aggressive. Every patient that participated in the study had some significant side effects, although doctors were unsure which were a result of the treatment and which were caused by the patient's actual condition.

The researchers concluded that while the results looked promising, there was some obvious room for improvement due to the lower response rates. They also say that the study is recent enough that it is unclear what long-term effects, if any will come up after undergoing the treatment. Overall CAR T cell therapy is likely in its infancy in terms of refinement and complete knowledge of its effects, but it provides a great stepping stone for providing treatment to those who were not responding to anything else.

Aliqopa

Aliqopa may just seem like another pharmaceutical churned out in hopes of slowing down lymphoma, but preliminary trials show that it could be much more effective than medicines on the market today. It was even fast tracked to FDA approval due to its promising results.

Read on to learn more about Aliqopa and what it means for the future of lymphoma treatment.