TwistedSifter

These Supercharged White Blood Cells are Going Back Into a Patient to Fight Cancer

t cell immunotherapy cancer white blood cells in bag These Supercharged White Blood Cells are Going Back Into a Patient to Fight Cancer

Photograph by sarahjewel on reddit

 

The advances being made in medical science continue to astound. For example, the bag above contains white blood cells which were removed from a patient and genetically modified at a laboratory. Now they are about to go back into the patient in hopes of curing their cancer.

This treatment is known at CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy, which was named as the “2017 & 2018 Advance of the Year” by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO):

 

In CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy, a person’s T cells are removed and taken to a laboratory. The T cells are genetically changed so they will attack cancer cells. These CAR T cells are grown in large numbers and then injected into the patient. One of the remarkable things about this treatment is that it is a “living therapy.” CAR T cells typically have to be injected only once, because they go on to multiply in the body. CAR T cells continue fighting the cancer in the patient’s body, and their effectiveness may even grow over time. [source]

 

via sarahjewel on reddit

 

 

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