13 August 2023 , 23:01
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Immunotherapy trials are showing “groundbreaking” results in blood cancer patients, a leading hospital has announced.
Medics hope the new drugs could revolutionise treatment. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester has about 30 clinical trials in progress, including five for myeloma, a disease that develops from plasma cells in the bone marrow.
Dr Emma Searle, consultant haematologist, said the drugs are so new they are yet to be named. She added: “The results for this kind of trial – using drugs that enable the immune system to see and attack the myeloma – are incredibly impressive. Using the drugs on their own, we are seeing responses in over two-thirds of patients who have no standard treatment options left.
Dr Emma Searle is behind the trials (Chris Rennie/The Christie)“And when using the drugs in combination... we are seeing responses in over 90% of patients. These drugs are a huge breakthrough in this type of cancer, allowing patients without standard treatment options to achieve remission, in many cases for months or years. When the drugs are used alone they achieve a remission lasting one to two years in most patients... Used in combination with other myeloma drugs, it is likely that responses and the effect on life expectancy will be even longer.”
There are around 6,000 new myeloma cases in the UK every year. Some of the new immunotherapies being tested are still only available in clinical trials in Manchester and London but it is hoped they will soon become more widely used around the UK.
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Trial participant Jan Ross, 57, from Liverpool, said: “Thanks to this amazing new trial drug, after just seven months the cancer can’t be detected.”