5 replies to this topic

[GerryL]

Gene therapy scores big wins against blood cancers - http://www.courierma...o-1226777982610

IN ONE of the biggest advances against leukemia and other blood cancers in many years, doctors are reporting unprecedented success by using gene therapy to transform patients' blood cells into soldiers that seek and destroy cancer.  

A few patients with one type of leukemia were given this one-time, experimental therapy several years ago and some remain cancer-free today. Now, at least six research groups have treated more than 120 patients with many types of blood and bone marrow cancers, with stunning results.

"It's really exciting," said Dr Janice Abkowitz, blood diseases chief at the University of Washington in Seattle and president of the American Society of Hematology. "You can take a cell that belongs to a patient and engineer it to be an attack cell."

[Cliffee]

I have been reading about this for at least two years. It is very encouraging.

Never an attempt at CML with this strategy.

Why not?

[GerryL]

Perhaps they are starting with leukemias that aren't as manageable as ours is with our TKIs. Trey may be able to comment about the potential for this with CML.

[Trey]

This is one approach to what has been called a "leukemia vaccine".  The use of the term "vaccine" does not mean it prevents it, but rather it can stop it by teaching the patient's own immune system to attack the leukemic cells.  Since the leukemic cells are part of the person's own body, they are treated as "self", so are not normally attacked by the immune system.  So the T-Cells are altered to train them.

This specific "gene therapy" approach is targeted at CLL and ALL leukemias.  It uses the person's altered T-Cells to destroy other white blood cells (WBCs).  Since all leukemias are white blood cell diseases, this approach could theoretically be expanded to target CML.  However, the approach discussed in the link Gerry provided only targets B-Cells, which are lymphatic WBCs.  B-Cells are often the issue in CLL and ALL leukemias, so it can work in some of those cases.  CML is a disease primarily of the myeloid line of WBCs, so this approach will not work with CML.  Only if the T-Cells can be altered and trained (by gene therapy or otherwise) to attack myeloid WBCs would this work for CML.  But it may be more tricky due to how the immune system works overall. 

[GerryL]

Thanks Trey,

I only manage to have a bit of an understanding of CML, let alone CLL and ALL.

I have a close friend who has just been diagnosed with NHL due to her kidney transplant. Trying to get my head around lymphomas and how they are different to CML.

[LivingWellWithCML]

I have a friend who was diagnosed with CLL years ago, and he has been in the "watch and wait" phase for a long time now.  His WBC rises ever-so-slowly, but this year he's getting up to 100,000.  I continue to hope that these new therapies will mature enough so he can take advantage of them, because he has made the decision to wait as long as possible and avoid chemotherapy.