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India's first CAR T-cell therapy has been successful in treating 73% of patients with blood cancer.

What is CAR T-cell therapy?

CAR T-cell therapy, or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, is a form of immunotherapy where doctors engineer a patient's own immune cells to target and destroy cancer cells.

How does it work?

Doctors collect T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from the patient's blood through a process called apheresis.

Scientists genetically modify the collected T-cells in a laboratory. They introduce a new gene into the T-cells that codes for a special receptor called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR).

After the genetic modification, the laboratory cultivates and multiplies these CAR T-cells in large numbers to ensure there are enough engineered cells to effectively fight the cancer.

The multiplied CAR T-cells are then infused back into the patient's bloodstream. When a CAR T-cell encounters a cancer cell with the matching antigen, it binds to it and initiates a powerful immune response, which leads to the destruction of the cancer cell.

Lancet report on India's CAR T-cell therapy clinical trials

The study revealed a 73% response rate among patients. It reported an average six months survival without progression in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients and four months in lymphoma patients.

The therapy developed in India costs approximately US$30,000, which is about 1/20th the cost of similar therapies in other countries (US$373,000–475,000).

This is the first clinical trial of a CAR T-cell therapy from India to be published in an international journal, demonstrating India's capability in developing world-class cancer treatments.

The approval of this therapy in India means it is now available at several hospitals across the country, improving access for patients who previously had limited options.

Source: 

INDIAN EXPRESS