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Breakthrough Gene Therapy Thought to Be an Effective Treatment for Some Kinds of Cancers Just Turned Deadly

A breakthrough cancer therapy has cost one individual their life in a rare instance.

Immunotherapy represents a whole new approach for combating several types of human cancers. The tactic involves scientists genetically reprogramming the cells of a person’s immune system to target and attack malignancies. Immunotherapy is now considered the “fifth pillar” of cancer treatments, rapidly evolving into a more promising tool for battling cancer than standard radiation and chemotherapeutic treatments.

Although there are many different immunotherapies in development and practice, chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T) therapy has shown the most promise to date. Indeed, CAR-T therapy is the first anti-cancer gene therapy to be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use against advanced adult lymphomas and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Unfortunately, just recently, a patient given CAR-T therapy for aggressive leukemia died as result of the treatment.

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