A Victoria man had 53 different tumours scattered all over his body, but after just weeks of treatment he not only started to feel better but his tumours started to disappear before he went into complete remission.
Those results, for patients who just two decades ago would have been considered incurable, are thanks to advancements in immunotherapy, according to Dr. Brad Nelson.
Hesa国际传媒檚 the director of the Deeley Research Centre at Victoriasa国际传媒檚 Royal Jubilee Hospital, which is celebrating 20 years of innovation thatsa国际传媒檚 given hope to those who have no other cancer treatments to turn to. The centre advances various fronts sa国际传媒� all centred around harnessing the power of the immune system to find new therapies and treatments for hard-to-cure cancers.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e taking on some of the biggest challenges, the toughest science that humanity faces,sa国际传媒� Nelson said while walking through the centresa国际传媒檚 various labs on Aug. 23.
sa国际传媒淲hen that immune system kicks in and starts attacking cancer, patients do better and so with immunotherapy what wesa国际传媒檙e trying to do is just make that happen more often, and stronger.sa国际传媒�
The Victoria centre is running a clinical trial on genetically engineered CAR-T cells, which are hardwired to find and destroy cancer. The immunotherapy lab develops the CAR-T cells by introducing genes to T-cells derived from a patientsa国际传媒檚 blood over a 12-day process. When thatsa国际传媒檚 complete, the millions of new cells provide a supercharged fleet of cancer fighters that is put back into a patientsa国际传媒檚 bloodstream so they can travel to cancerous sites all over the body.
sa国际传媒淎 patient might have letsa国际传媒檚 say a million T-cells fighting their cancer, in this way we can engineer it so theysa国际传媒檝e got a billion T-cells fighting,sa国际传媒� Nelson said. sa国际传媒淚f there are more cancer cells than T-cells, yousa国际传媒檙e going to lose that battle, in this way though, we can really tilt things in favour of the T-cells.sa国际传媒�
The treatment has proved phenomenally successful for those with conditions like leukemia and lymphoma and has usually produced fewer side effects. As the trialsa国际传媒檚 first phase established the treatmentsa国际传媒檚 feasibility and safety, itsa国际传媒檚 set to grow to around 100 patients from the current 70. A study on an earlier cohort showed fabulous results, Nelson said, with many patientssa国际传媒� cancer completely disappearing after standard treatments werensa国际传媒檛 working for them.
sa国际传媒淭hey really needed a new option and because of the support of the community and this work, wesa国际传媒檝e been able to provide that,sa国际传媒� he said.
Immunotherapy marks the hottest area in cancer research, Nelson said, and in just the last decade itsa国际传媒檚 had numerous breakthroughs on a wide spectrum of cancers. While the Deeley centresa国际传媒檚 work helps spur those solutions, itsa国际传媒檚 also growing the next generation of researchers taking on cancer.
High schoolers and university students are a fixture at the research lab every summer, and some who were plugging away on Aug. 23 said working at the centre offers a unique shot at being immersed in cancer research.
sa国际传媒淚 think itsa国际传媒檚 super exciting,sa国际传媒� said UVic co-op student Bridget Mateyko, adding that itsa国际传媒檚 interesting they get to contribute a small amount to the labsa国际传媒檚 histology research. sa国际传媒淏eing a part of big studies is very interesting.sa国际传媒�
Research assistant Breeze Gladwin was also working away in the lab as her team tries to figure out the role of B-cells and how the antibody creators can be leveraged into potential therapies.
sa国际传媒淓veryone here is so committed to what we do and everyone here cares so much about the reason why we do it,sa国际传媒� she said.
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