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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: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @02:10AM
A very good friend died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma a couple of years ago. When diagnosed it was fairly well along, he was a tough guy (still doing heavy duty Judo in his mid-70s) and just felt like he was getting tired too quickly. Then got the bad news.
After a tour of a chemo infusion facility (patients in agony), checking the odds of success (add a few months to his life) and also watching the cash-register numbers spin (metaphorically) in the oncologist's eyes, he refused chemo. I believe that Medicare (+ add'l insurance?) would have covered chemo, don't know the price, but likely well over $100000 (100K). In his eyes it was hardly worth it for the destruction of any remaining quality of life he had left.
They gave him 3-4 months, he lasted 15 months and got to see his first grandchild be born and healthy.
He was always a bit of a doper and lived in a state where he could get medical marijuana. As the disease progressed and he slowly wasted away, he had to use more, but was essentially pain free until the very last stages, perhaps the last a couple of weeks.
During all this, he had the satisfaction of giving away nearly all his possessions while he was alive (including house), leaving very little of his estate to be dealt with.
Not sure if he could have scraped together the $300K for this new treatment, but if the odds were as good as it sounds, then I think a bunch of his friends would have chipped in (assuming Medicare, etc wouldn't cover it).