Scientists in the United Kingdom used a revolutionary new type of gene therapy to treat a sick child with T-cell leukemia, and the application of this technology, which is considered the first of its kind in the world, revived hopes that it could soon help in treating other childhood cancers and serious diseases, according to The Guardian newspaper.
The newspaper says that the child, Elissa, underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, in an attempt to alleviate leukemia, but to no avail. With no more treatments available, the prospects for the 13-year-old’s recovery were bleak.
But after receiving an injection of donated T cells, which had been modified using a new technique known as base editing, Alyssa is recovering, and the disease has been waning for six months.
The newspaper points out that the medical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London that treated Elissa is looking for 10 volunteers from patients with T-cell leukemia, who have also exhausted all conventional therapies, for further experiments.
If these trials are successful, it is hoped that the modified cells could be given to patients with other types of leukemia and other diseases.
“This is our most advanced cell engineering yet, and it paves the way for other new treatments and ultimately a better future for sick children,” immunologist Professor Wassim Qasim, one of the leaders of this treatment project, told the paper.
Kassem will present the results of the experiment at the American Society of Hematology meeting in New Orleans this weekend, according to the newspaper.
The Guardian notes that modified cell therapy is done by scientists making “one change in the billions of letters of DNA that make up a person’s genetic code.”