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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a gene therapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (blood cancer):
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the second in a radically new class of treatments that genetically reboot a patient's own immune cells to kill cancer.
The new therapy, Yescarta, made by Kite Pharma, was approved for adults with aggressive forms of a blood cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, who have undergone two regimens of chemotherapy that failed.
The treatment, considered a form of gene therapy, transforms the patient's cells into what researchers call a "living drug" that attacks cancer cells. It is part of the rapidly growing field of immunotherapy, which uses drugs or genetic tinkering to turbocharge the immune system to fight disease. In some cases the treatments have led to long remissions.
"The results are pretty remarkable," said Dr. Frederick L. Locke, a specialist in blood cancers at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, and a leader of a study of the new treatment. "We're excited. We think there are many patients who may need this therapy."
He added, "These patients don't have other options."
About 3,500 people a year in the United States may be candidates for Yescarta. It is meant to be given once, infused into a vein, and must be manufactured individually for each patient. The cost will be $373,000.
Also at The Associated Press, CNN, and STAT News.
Previously: FDA Approves a Gene Therapy for the First Time
FDA Committee Endorses Gene Therapy for a Form of Childhood Blindness
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @04:03AM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @04:59AM
even being warehoused in a nursing home (whether you are relatively healthy or not) is not cheap. you effectively get drained of your financial assets before Medicaid takes over paying for it.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday October 21 2017, @10:32AM
See, there's where we fundamentally differ. I do not want to live past an age where I can take care of myself and under no circumstances do I want to be a huge financial burden to my family. I can't even mentally put myself in the position of anyone who does think like that even for the sake of understanding their argument.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.