The first patient to receive purified CAR-T cells is home and doing well, Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Hollings Cancer Center said.
The new recipe of CAR-T cells was tested on a patient who lived with marginal zone lymphoma for 11 years, according to a Feb. 5 news release from the health system. Physicians said they hope the treatment will get him off the "merry-go-round of maintenance drugs that work for a while and then lose effectiveness."
Purified CAR-T treatment was invented by Loyola University Chicago researchers. It allows researchers to pick out only those cells that have been modified to fight cancer. Most commercial CAR-T products include a range of cells, including dead cells and T-cells that did not take to the engineering process. The extra cells may contribute to cytokine release syndrome, according to the release.
In the two weeks since his first treatment, the patient has not experienced signs of cytokine release syndrome.