A few months ago, India’s drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organization-CDSCO had approved the commercial use of CAR-T cell therapy. This therapy has become life-saving for many patients, including Delhi-based gastroenterologist Colonel Dr VK Gupta. Dr. Gupta has 28 years of experience working in the Indian Army. He received this therapy by paying only Rs 42 lakh, whereas similar therapy abroad costs more than Rs 4 crore. This therapy was approved in America in the year 2017.
This therapy NexCAR19 has been developed by ImmunoACT, a company established at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), IIT-B and Tata Memorial Hospital. It focuses on treating B-cell cancers (a type of cancer that forms in cells of the immune system) such as leukemia and lymphoma.
CDSCO had given permission for commercial use of this therapy in October last year. Currently it is available in 30 hospitals in 10 cities of India. With its help, patients above 15 years of age suffering from B-cell cancer can be treated.
blood cancer treatment
Blood cancer is treated with chimeric antigen receptor CAR-T cell therapy. This therapy will be used in the treatment of serious cancers like lymphocytic leukemia and B-cell lymphoma. Antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is an advanced technology used in the treatment of cancer. With the help of this technique, T cells are extracted from the white blood cells present in the patient’s body. After this, T cells and white blood cells are separated and modified and inserted into the patient’s body. This process is done only once. After this, T cells in the body work to fight and eliminate cancer.
CAR T cell therapy is given from the cells of the blood cancer patient. This therapy is also proving effective on such blood cancer patients in whom all types of treatments have failed. Therefore, now instead of giving other treatment, treatment is being done directly with this therapy.
much cheaper than USA
So far, CAR-T cell therapy has been given to 16 patients by all the hospitals of Apollo Group. In 2012, a patient was first treated with this therapy in America, which was successful. After this, in 2014, IIT Mumbai started the work of developing this technology in India. This technology is available in India at only one tenth of the cost of America. However, it is expensive for common people.
After giving therapy, the patient has to be admitted to the hospital for one to two weeks, so that he can be properly taken care of and the side effects that occur can also be treated.
What is CAR-T cell therapy?
CAR-T cell therapies are often referred to as ‘living drugs’. It involves removing the patient’s T-cells (a type of white blood cells whose function is to fight cancer cells) through a process called apheresis.
These T-cells are then genetically modified by a safe vehicle (viral vector) under a controlled laboratory setting, so that they express modified connectors on their surface called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs).
These CARs are designed to specifically recognize a protein that is abnormally expressed on certain cancer cells. They are then prepared in large quantities to the desired dosage and administered directly to the patient.
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Tags: cancer, health, World Cancer Day
FIRST PUBLISHED: February 10, 2024, 02:20 IST