As we all know by now, the immune system is a vital part of a well-functioning human body. Thanks to our immune systems, we are generally able to fight off a variety of infections and illnesses without much of a problem. The immune system is also key in our bodies’ ability to know how to deal with these specific microbial invaders more efficiently if we ever see them again. Two very important cells functioning within the immune system are T cells and dendritic cells, two lymphocytes very important in the adaptive immune system. Each is very important in the activation of different kinds of cells and responses within the immune response. It is incredible how intricate and complex these body mechanisms have come together to keep humans and other organisms healthy. However, as with all things, the immune system cannot always work perfectly. For example, when the cells of the immune system fail to recognize abnormal growth of a self cell, it can lead to the growth of a cancerous tumor. Scientists are working tirelessly to try to find ways to treat these immune cells and return them to their normal function. One way they are investigating is with T cell and dendritic cell therapy.
One kind of promising T cell therapy is CAR T-cell therapy. CAR T-cell therapy is currently used only to treat patients with two specific types of cancer: large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The first type of cancer is a cancer that mutates the body’s B cells, which are extremely important in the production of antibodies. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia affects the bone marrow, in which are the precursors of the white blood cells, the essential components of the immune system. As of right now, use of these treatments is limited to these specific types of cancers, which are generally either advanced or extremely persistent, but there is always hope that further research will bring about advancements in the treatment, and, as always, scientists are working on developing similar treatments for other cancers. However, the process can be complicated as it is essentially genetic modification of the patient’s own T cells that are not eliminating cancer cells as they should.
Through ways similar to platelet donation, doctors filter the T cells out of a patient’s blood and insert a chimeric antigen receptor (abbreviated as CAR) to the surface of the T cells. This allows them to recognize the cancerous cells as abnormal so they can attack and kill them. Once enough of the patient’s T cells have been genetically altered, they will be reintroduced to his or her body to do their job and hopefully kill any existing cancer cells. This procedure has been fairly successful and only rarely has serious side effects. Several of these include usually mild cases of cytokine release syndrome, low red and white blood cell counts, and very rarely abnormal brain conditions, but generally these can all be treated relatively easily.
Even more recent reports state that, as expected, CAR T cell therapies are looking more and more promising. Because of the unique way this treatment utilizes the patient’s own cells, the “treatment” is able to work with the human body in a way that most medicines cannot. The article mentioned before reports that as research and experimentation progresses, genetically modified T cells are able to stay in the body longer and longer, and that the body itself is able to replicate more and more of these cancer-fighting cells. They are also working on ways to make these T cells stronger and more efficient, along with experimenting with ways to use the cells of donors. By taking donor cells, doctors believe they could avoid several of the side effects of the current treatment and even store the treatment before it was needed so the patients would not have to go through the lengthy process of having their own cells modified. Scientists are also looking into what benefits the use of stem cells could offer. All of this to say, T cell therapy seems to be promising in the treatment of cancer patients.
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