New treatment changing outlook for those with blood cancers – WBAL TV Baltimore

Ten percent of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are blood cancers, and they can be deadly. There are exciting new treatments and research happening in Baltimore that are giving patients hope."These therapies cure the patients that have no other treatment options. It's been a remarkable breakthrough," said Dr. Aaron Rapoport, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.Cutting-edge technology will treat many types of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Traditional treatments include chemotherapy, radiation and stem cell therapy, but what if those treatments don't work?Now, there is an immunotherapy for aggressive blood cancers that is seeing remarkable results.Chip Baldwin, who has a big laugh and immense love for his grandchildren, thought it was the end when he was told in January 2018 that chemotherapy was no longer working to treat his lymphoma."This is Kyle, he's about 3 1/2 years old and he lives in Florida. (My) granddaughter Maple. She and her family live in Fells Point. And this is (my) granddaughter Rosemary and she's a doll, and they call me Pop-pop," Baldwin said.But Baldwin almost never met two of his grandchildren.Baldwin said he had difficulty "leaving (his wife), Angela, and leaving the family, trying to figure out how they're going to get by."He was out of options, or so he thought. Not willing to give up, his wife, Angela Baldwin, began researching and came across a promising new treatment."(It was) probably the last treatment that I could have received. Had I not received it and had it not been positive to put me in remission, I probably wouldn't be talking to you today," Baldwin said.The treatment he received had just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration months earlier. It's called "CAR T-cell Therapy," and it uses the patient's own, re-engineered immune cells to kill cancer. Rapoport helped pioneer the development of CAR T-cell at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Baldwin was just the second patient to receive it."The notion that one could perhaps harness the immune system, or educate the immune system, to better protect us from cancer, but also to recognize and fight against cancer, has been a goal for decades, centuries really," Rapoport said.It appears that goal has been reached. Here's how it works: The medical team extracts immune cells, called T-cells, out of the patient's blood. The cells are sent to a special lab in California, where scientists change the cells' DNA to put receptors on them called "CAR" - Chimeric Antigen Receptors. They enable the immune cells to recognize, hunt down and kill the cancer cells. The California lab then sends the now-re-engineered immune cells back to the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center."These are CAR T-cells growing in the flask here. These are CAR T-cells that were made in the lab," said Dr. Djordje Atanackovic, a hematology oncologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center.Under a microscope, spots on a cancer cell can be seen that are the killer CAR T-cells. "You could use these right now to treat a patient," Atanackovic said.For the final step, patients are admitted to the hospital and the medical team puts the T-cells back into the patient, where the cells multiply by the millions and destroy the cancer. For Baldwin, that was the day after Easter 2018."Then, about four months later, they determined that all the cancer cells had died, " Baldwin said."Being told that their scans are negative is a really overwhelming experience -- not just for the patients, but for the families and also the nurses and physicians, the team members that are involved in their care," Rapoport said.When looking at CT scan images of two other lymphoma patients, black areas seen on one of the images is extensive cancer. The other image shows the same patient after CAR T-cell therapy, and the cancer is gone. Right now, CAR T-cell Therapy is approved to treat aggressive blood cancers Lymphoma, B-cell Leukemia and Myeloma. But Atanackovic believes that's just the beginning."I'm pretty optimistic that, in 10 years from now, we'll have novel immunotherapies that we can't even imagine at this point for everyone, or at least most of our patients with cancer," Atanackovic said.Four years after his treatment, Baldwin is still in remission. He doesn't like the word "cure" because he's afraid it's bad luck. The word Baldwin keeps saying is: "'Unbelievable.' And even to this day, I kind of can't believe I'm in remission and I'm able to live my life. Since then, I've had two grandchildren and it's been wonderful. Had it not been for the university and the treatment, I would never have seen the two kids."So far, 250 patients have been treated with CAR T-cell Therapy at the University of Maryland, but it's not perfect and researchers are still working to improve it. The success rate for patients with aggressive lymphoma, for example, is 50% and some patients have side effects, like flu-like symptoms, so they typically stay in the hospital for days or even weeks.Many may wonder whether this is covered by insurance. The answer is yes. Keep in mind, right now, it is approved by FDA as a second-line therapy, so patients have to try a different treatment first. But, immunotherapy like CAR-T is the future of cancer treatment.

Ten percent of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are blood cancers, and they can be deadly. There are exciting new treatments and research happening in Baltimore that are giving patients hope.

"These therapies cure the patients that have no other treatment options. It's been a remarkable breakthrough," said Dr. Aaron Rapoport, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Cutting-edge technology will treat many types of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Traditional treatments include chemotherapy, radiation and stem cell therapy, but what if those treatments don't work?

Now, there is an immunotherapy for aggressive blood cancers that is seeing remarkable results.

Chip Baldwin, who has a big laugh and immense love for his grandchildren, thought it was the end when he was told in January 2018 that chemotherapy was no longer working to treat his lymphoma.

"This is Kyle, he's about 3 1/2 years old and he lives in Florida. (My) granddaughter Maple. She and her family live in Fells Point. And this is (my) granddaughter Rosemary and she's a doll, and they call me Pop-pop," Baldwin said.

But Baldwin almost never met two of his grandchildren.

Baldwin said he had difficulty "leaving (his wife), Angela, and leaving the family, trying to figure out how they're going to get by."

He was out of options, or so he thought. Not willing to give up, his wife, Angela Baldwin, began researching and came across a promising new treatment.

"(It was) probably the last treatment that I could have received. Had I not received it and had it not been positive to put me in remission, I probably wouldn't be talking to you today," Baldwin said.

The treatment he received had just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration months earlier. It's called "CAR T-cell Therapy," and it uses the patient's own, re-engineered immune cells to kill cancer.

Rapoport helped pioneer the development of CAR T-cell at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Baldwin was just the second patient to receive it.

"The notion that one could perhaps harness the immune system, or educate the immune system, to better protect us from cancer, but also to recognize and fight against cancer, has been a goal for decades, centuries really," Rapoport said.

It appears that goal has been reached. Here's how it works: The medical team extracts immune cells, called T-cells, out of the patient's blood. The cells are sent to a special lab in California, where scientists change the cells' DNA to put receptors on them called "CAR" - Chimeric Antigen Receptors. They enable the immune cells to recognize, hunt down and kill the cancer cells. The California lab then sends the now-re-engineered immune cells back to the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"These are CAR T-cells growing in the flask here. These are CAR T-cells that were made in the lab," said Dr. Djordje Atanackovic, a hematology oncologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Under a microscope, spots on a cancer cell can be seen that are the killer CAR T-cells.

"You could use these right now to treat a patient," Atanackovic said.

For the final step, patients are admitted to the hospital and the medical team puts the T-cells back into the patient, where the cells multiply by the millions and destroy the cancer.

For Baldwin, that was the day after Easter 2018.

"Then, about four months later, they determined that all the cancer cells had died, " Baldwin said.

"Being told that their scans are negative is a really overwhelming experience -- not just for the patients, but for the families and also the nurses and physicians, the team members that are involved in their care," Rapoport said.

When looking at CT scan images of two other lymphoma patients, black areas seen on one of the images is extensive cancer. The other image shows the same patient after CAR T-cell therapy, and the cancer is gone.

Right now, CAR T-cell Therapy is approved to treat aggressive blood cancers Lymphoma, B-cell Leukemia and Myeloma. But Atanackovic believes that's just the beginning.

"I'm pretty optimistic that, in 10 years from now, we'll have novel immunotherapies that we can't even imagine at this point for everyone, or at least most of our patients with cancer," Atanackovic said.

Four years after his treatment, Baldwin is still in remission. He doesn't like the word "cure" because he's afraid it's bad luck.

The word Baldwin keeps saying is: "'Unbelievable.' And even to this day, I kind of can't believe I'm in remission and I'm able to live my life. Since then, I've had two grandchildren and it's been wonderful. Had it not been for the university and the treatment, I would never have seen the two kids."

So far, 250 patients have been treated with CAR T-cell Therapy at the University of Maryland, but it's not perfect and researchers are still working to improve it. The success rate for patients with aggressive lymphoma, for example, is 50% and some patients have side effects, like flu-like symptoms, so they typically stay in the hospital for days or even weeks.

Many may wonder whether this is covered by insurance. The answer is yes. Keep in mind, right now, it is approved by FDA as a second-line therapy, so patients have to try a different treatment first. But, immunotherapy like CAR-T is the future of cancer treatment.

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New treatment changing outlook for those with blood cancers - WBAL TV Baltimore