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Health/Medical Title: Child Cured of Leukemia With Breakthrough Treatment An experimental treatment using bio-engineered T cells has cured a 7-year-old girl of leukemia by "reprogramming" her immune system to attack the cancerous cells in her body. http://bcove.me/2xhhdmut MONDAY, Dec. 10, 2012 — A year ago it looked as if Emily Whitehead, a smart and lively Philadelphia 7-year-old, was facing imminent death. For some time, the young girl had been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive form of the disease that's usually treated with chemotherapy and other long-term drugs. Although she initially responded to standard treatments for her leukemia, Emily continually relapsed, first in October 2011 and then again, in February 2012. "We were told we were down to 48 hours of making a decision, or she could start to have organ failure," said Tom Whitehead, Emily's father in a video filmed by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. So with a glimmer of hope, Emily's parents turned to Children's for what their doctors say is a breakthrough leukemia treatment using a bio-engineered version of the patient's T cells that are custom-designed to multiply rapidly in the patient and destroy leukemia. T cells are lymphocytes, white blood cells that are integral to the immune system's ability to fight off leukemia B cells. Emily's T cells were engineered to "go after cancer cells and kill them," said pediatric oncologist Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the video. Since Emily was treated in the hospital in April 2011, she has remained cancer- free, and her leukemia is considered to be in full remission. This past June, she returned home, and since then she's been healthy and is back at school. "We've checked her bone marrow for the possibility of disease at two points," said Dr. Grupp. "We checked her three months and now six months after the treatment. She has no disease whatsoever." Added Grupp, "We need to treat a larger number of patients before we understand what the success rate might actually be." The treatment Emily received, known as CTL019 or CART19, was developed .... Poster Comment: This is VERY big news. Please pass it on to everybody you know. Subscribe to *Health* Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest This one's for you, redleg........
#2. To: rowdee (#1) Thanks Sneakypete posted it as well. Will have to ask my son's oncologist. But the article has some contradictions. In one place it says the child received the new treatment in April 2011 and is in remission. Then the article says the child had a relapse in Feb 2012. You can't be in remission and have a relapse. Also, with normal treatments the patient is usually in full remission within 2- 3 weeks of the start of intense chemo. For example my son was diagnosed in early May 2010 and was in full remission by the end of the month. If he was not in full remission by that time he would have had to undergo radiation and other procedures (which is not a good course to a cure). I hope this article is accurate that the child is in remission, but we need to hear if they are cured with this new procedure. The normal course for an ALL child patient is to undergo a three year treatment plan and then a two year by month monitor plan. Only after the full five years (three of treatments and two of monitoring) without a recurrence of the cancer will the child be deemed cured. Even after the five total years my son will still be closely monitored twice a year for another 5 years. Total process of treatments and monitoring is then 10 years. The other form of leukemia is AML. That treatment plan requires a bone marrow transplant, 6 months of chemo and 5 years of monitoring. A shorter treatment period but a smaller cure rate. I never understood what remission means until my son was diagnosed. I remember hearing and breathing a sigh of relief when my aunt was in remission. Now I understand it a bit better. Remission means, in blood cancers, that with current diagnostic equipment and lab work you can no longer see any cancer cells in blood work and tests. But there are still cancer cells somewhere, we cannot see them with current technology, but the oncologists know they are there from experience. The patient continues a maintenance chemo regimen weekly after full remission, and then a year later monthly until the full three years (really more like 3 years and 6 months) are complete. Then they monitor blood work without the chemo treatments in the months and years following. Also, with blood cancers there are daily and weekly oral meds that must be taken as well. For example, my son takes two pills of one medicine daily and then every Monday must take 11 pills of another medicine. How my wife keeps it straight, I have no idea. I have to keep reading the instructions to get it right. Blood cancers are handled a lot differently than the types we are familiar with like breast cancer, colon cancer etc. With those types of cancers you are usually dealing with a tumor or mass that can be attacked with chemo at the source or removed. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct[a] your paths.(Proverbs 3:5-6) #3. To: redleghunter (#2) Blood cancers are handled a lot differently than the types we are familiar with like breast cancer, colon cancer etc. With those types of cancers you are usually dealing with a tumor or mass that can be attacked with chemo at the source or removed. Thanks for pointing that out. I had never even thought about it before. Good luck to your son. I really hope this nano-technology treatment is as good as the promise,and not just exaggerated so the reporter would have a story. Seems like there are no standards anymore,and anybody and everybody will write whatever they need to write to sell a story. Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012) #4. To: sneakypete (#3) Good luck to your son. I really hope this nano-technology treatment is as good as the promise,and not just exaggerated so the reporter would have a story. Seems like there are no standards anymore,and anybody and everybody will write whatever they need to write to sell a story. Thank you. He is doing well and will finish his treatments in late summer 2013. What I get from this article is the child had few options left and was terminal. This potential breakthrough is keeping the child in remission and hoping it to be a cure. I will ask my son's oncologist next time I see him. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct[a] your paths.(Proverbs 3:5-6) Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
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