17-year-old boy achieves complete remission of incurable brain cancer thanks to CAR-T therapy

Cell immunotherapy AUTOMOBILE-Tknown for its success in treating certain types of blood cancers, has taken a major step forward by demonstrating promising results against solid tumorsespecially in children with diffuse midline gliomas.

Phase 1 clinical trial conducted by researchers from Stanford University and whose results were published in the journal Nature, demonstrated significant improvements in patients with these extremely deadly brain tumors, including one case of complete remission.

Diffuse midline gliomas, such as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), are aggressive tumors with an average survival rate of just one year after diagnosis. These tumors affecting the brain or spinal cord do not respond to chemotherapy or surgeryand radiation therapy brings only temporary relief.

A disease with a one-year survival rate

The study involved 11 children and young people diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma, a devastating disease with a median survival of about one year.

Of the 11 participants, nine showed significant benefits, with an improvement in their quality of life and functional recovery. In four cases, the tumor size decreased by more than 50%, and in one of the patients showed the complete answer, with complete disappearance of the tumor during a brain scan. The 17-year-old, diagnosed four years ago, is healthy, studying at university and has noticed improvements in his motor and sensory functions.

CAR-T cell treatment consists of genetically modify lymphocytes The ability of the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. In this case, the researchers engineered CAR-T cells to target a specific marker, GD2, which is abundant in DIPG tumor cells. Results in animal models have already been successful, but this study marks significant progress by demonstrating effectiveness in humans.

Luis Alvarez-Vallina, an immunotherapy expert at the 12 October University Hospital in Spain, considers the study a major milestone in terms of safety and effectiveness. Although he notes that follow-up time is limited, he emphasizes that documenting complete remission of an incurable disease is an important achievement.

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