The new cell therapy treatment is called CAR-T and, unlike previous methods, uses the body's own immune defense cells to attack cancer cells.
- It is a completely different way of attacking cancer, says Mats Jerkeman.
The method is used to treat leukemia, lymph node cancer and myeloma, which is a type of cancer in the bone marrow.
Can cure 50 percent
It is mainly the patients who previously had no chance of cure, who now get a new opportunity to treat their illness.
Now you have a chance to cure approximately 50 percent of them with the method, according to Mats Jerkeman.
- For that patient group, this is really a major breakthrough, he says.
Risk of side effects
But there is a risk of severe side effects.
Patients can get something similar to blood poisoning and need intensive care for a few days.
- But these are transient side effects that last a few days, says Mats Jerkeman, senior physician and professor at the oncology clinic at Scania University Hospital in Lund.
So far, roughly 20 patients have undergone the cell therapy treatment in Lund.
The patients have been between 40 and 73 years old, but there is no age limit.
- There is no direct upper age limit.
Patients up to at least 80 years of age can cope with this treatment, unless they have reduced heart or kidney function.
Bright future for other cancers
At the moment, CAR-T treatment is limited to only three forms of cancer, but the hope is that we will be able to have similar opportunities for other forms of cancer in the future.
- I hope that you will be able to use similar types of cell therapies for other types of cancer as well.
I am very hopeful about the future.