Immune Therapy Induces Remission for Many With a Tough-to-Treat Blood Cancer

By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental immune-system therapy can often lead to complete remission in leukemia patients who have run out of other options, a new study confirms.

Researchers found that 27 of 30 children and adults with advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) went into full remission after receiving genetically tweaked versions of their own immune system cells.

"Ninety percent of patients who had no options left went into complete remission. That's amazing," said senior researcher Dr. Stephan Grupp, of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.

However, seven patients who went into remission did eventually suffer a relapse, according to the study.

The findings, published Oct. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirm what smaller studies have suggested: The therapy offers hope to people with ALL that has repeatedly eluded standard treatments.

But while past studies have focused on adults, this study included mostly children.

"It shows the therapy can work just as well in children with ALL, and it's great to see that," said Dr. Michel Sadelain, a researcher at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City who worked on those earlier studies.

But, both Grupp and Sadelain said ongoing studies will have to clarify the therapy's role in treating ALL.

ALL is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that progresses quickly. It's more common in children than adults, but while children are often cured with chemotherapy, adults have a poorer outlook, Sadelain said.

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Immune Therapy Induces Remission for Many With a Tough-to-Treat Blood Cancer