- Since last summer, the Toulouse University Cancer Institute has offered cellular immunotherapy treatment for certain types of hematological cancers.
- Nine patients have been treated, or are in the process of treatment, and six of them are in remission.
- To better fight cancer cells, other cells of the immune system are genetically modified and reset before being injected.
They are in remission, and in their case, it is quite unexpected. Since last summer, the Toulouse University Cancer Institute has embarked on a new treatment against two very aggressive hematological cancers: diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemias, which mainly affect the youngest.
Of the eight patients who have already received CART T-Cells, these super-cells rearmed to fight tumor cells, six are in remission, indicate the teams in charge of this cellular immunotherapy. A ninth patient is being treated. All were relapsed or refractory to chemotherapy.
"It is a hope, the response rates are impressive and range from 70 to 80% which was impossible with conventional treatment. For us, it is truly a revolution because we were in the last therapeutic line on the curative plan ”, advance the doctor Anne Huynh, hematologist on the site of the Oncopole, one of the seven sites in France to propose this solution.
Genetically modified in the United States
To win this battle, within the French Blood Establishment, a nurse takes from the patient T lymphocytes, these white blood cells which play a major role in the immune defense. They are sent to laboratories in the United States to be genetically transformed, thus giving them superpowers.
Rearmed, these cells returned a month later on French soil in tanks at -180 °. They are then reinjected into the patients, prepared at the Oncopôle to receive the treatment. And this is where their fight against cancer cells begins. After having tracked them down, they multiply, just to occupy the ground and prevent the wicked cells from attacking again.
Managed risks
As in any battle, it is not done without damage. “After the injection of CART-T Cells, we keep the patient because there are two possible complications. This may be a release of cytokines, which leads to fever, hypotension or respiratory failure. There is also a risk of neurological toxicity with headaches. The majority of patients have presented complications, but we have resolved 100% of the symptoms, it's manageable, ”underlines Dr Pierre Bories, coordinator for hematology of the Onco-Occitanie-Ouest network.
Risks of which patients are informed but which are worth taking. For these patients, the probability of survival from these cancers is 10%. Thanks to the first treatments carried out in the United States, we know that after three years, 40% of those who have received CAR-T Cells are still alive. “What is interesting is that they have not relapsed and that one has the impression that they are cured. Beyond a certain time, they find an almost normal activity ”, continues Pierre Bories.
This major therapeutic breakthrough is very technical and very expensive, since it takes 350 to 400,000 euros for each patient. But it could soon see its cost reduced since a French laboratory is currently carrying out a clinical trial to produce its own CART-T Cells. No more bothering to send cells across the Atlantic.
It could also affect other types of cancer, especially patients with myeloma. The University Cancer Institute is in the ranks to make it available to patients in the region suffering from this pathology and refractory to other treatments. This year, 50 to 60 patients could thus be treated in Toulouse with CAR-T Cells.
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