Italians make breakthrough in leukemia research

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 20 - An Italian team has made a breakthrough in leukemia research raising fresh hope of treating the blood cancer better.
    The team has shown the effectiveness of treatment with lab-engineered cells dubbed CARCIK on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children and adults.
    Using the new cells, six out of seven treated patients showed a complete disappearance of the cancer, a success rate of 86%.
    The clinical study was carried out by researchers from Fondazione Tettamanti labs, coordinated by the children's blood cancer centre of the Fondazione Monza e Brianza per il Bambino e la Mamma, with the collaboration of Bergamo's Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital.
    The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
    Th cells in question are special CAR-T cells obtained from the T immune system of healthy donors, tweaked in the laboratory so as to boost their capacity to recognize and kill cancer cells.
    Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the lymphoid line of blood cells characterized by the development of large numbers of immature lymphocytes.
    Symptoms may include feeling tired, pale skin color, fever, easy bleeding or bruising, enlarged lymph nodes, or bone pain.
    As an acute leukemia, ALL progresses rapidly and is typically fatal within weeks or months if left untreated.
    ALL is typically treated initially with chemotherapy aimed at bringing about remission. This is then followed by further chemotherapy typically over a number of years.
    The new Italian study offers hope of finding a cure for the disease. (ANSA).