China's first CAR-T therapy: the patient's cancer cells are cleared within two months

China's first CAR-T treatment: the patient's cancer cells were eliminated within two months

Recently, an injection of 1.

China's first approved CAR-T drug, Yikaida, was approved for marketing in June this year

However, the price of 1.

The first patient in China to receive CAR-T cell therapy

According to "Health Times" report, on August 26, China's first patient with lymphoma treated with CAR-T was discharged from Shanghai Ruijin Hospital

In June 2019, Ms.

Many treatments have been used, but the effect is not very good

After two months of treatment with Akirensai injection, Ms.

In fact, according to Phoenix Health News, Emily Whitehead, the first patient in the world to receive CAR-T cell immunotherapy, received treatment in 2012 and the cancer has not recurred for 6 consecutive years.

 

What is CAR-T therapy? Can it cure all cancers?

CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell) Therapy is to activate the recognition ability of T cells in the human immune system through genetic modification, so that T cells can accurately detect cancer cells and activate autoimmunity.

(Image source: see watermark above)

Although CAR-T therapy is relatively unfamiliar to most people, it is indeed the "net celebrity" in the current tumor treatment field

After the ordinary immune T cells are extracted and separated from the patient, they are transported to the preparation facility through the entire cold chain, and then the T cells are transformed into CAR-T cells using genetic engineering technology

In the patient's body, once encountering tumor cells expressing the corresponding antigen, CAR-T cells will be activated and re-expanded, exerting their huge specific killing ability and destroying tumor cells

CAR-T therapy has greater advantages compared with traditional drugs, monoclonal antibodies, and small molecule targeted drugs

At the same time, Akirensai injection is also the most benefited CAR-T drug in the world

Which diseases are currently most suitable for CAR-T technology treatment?

Currently, this therapy mainly treats blood system tumors
.
" For example, leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma have relatively good therapeutic effects, but the effect on other cancers is uncertain
.
"

CAR-T therapy is currently only approved for recurrent diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in China and is not recommended for patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma
.

Clinical trials for leukemia and other blood system diseases are being widely carried out, which will benefit more patients with hematological tumors in the future
.
For solid tumors, the clinical effect of CAR-T treatment is not as good as that of hematological tumors
.

Like other anticancer drugs, CAR-T therapy also has side effects
.
Director Liu Yao said: "The most important thing is cytokine storm and neurotoxicity
.

At present, the side effects of CAR-T are controllable, and ordinary doctors can deal with it in time, and the overall treatment effect is still relatively good
.
"

Why is this anti-cancer drug so expensive?

"CAR-T is a personalized customized cell therapy
.
CAR-T cells for each patient need to be produced in batches
.

CAR-T is expensive in the preparation process
.
The preparation process requires strict quality control and quality inspection, and the entire process takes one month
.
Liu Yao, director of the Hematology Oncology Center of Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, said in an interview with reporters
.

The five CAR-T therapies currently on the market are all "outrageously expensive"
.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Novartis’ Kymriah, Gilead’s Yescarta and Tecartus, and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Breyanzi and Abecma 5 CAR-T therapies
.
The prices of these products range from US$373,000 to US$475,000
.

 It is worth mentioning that on September 3, the official website of the State Administration of Food and Drug Administration showed that the CAR-T therapy product "Rigiolense Injection" was approved for marketing.
It is the second product in China after Achilles Injection.
, The world's sixth CAR-T product approved for marketing
.

(Source: Internet, for reference only)