Health Alert: New cancer treatment endorsed by FDA advisory board

Food and Drug Administration advisers on Wednesday enthusiastically endorsed a first-of-its-kind cancer treatment that uses patients' revved-up immune cells to fight the disease. The experts concluded that the therapy's benefits for desperately ill children far outweigh its potentially dangerous side effects.
The unanimous recommendation from the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee means the treatment could be approved by the FDA by the end of September, forging a new chapter in immunotherapy.
Novartis, the drugmaker behind the CAR T-cell therapy, is seeking approval to use it for children and young adults whose leukemia doesn't respond to traditional treatments. But the approach also is being tested for a range of diseases from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma to solid tumors.
If cleared by the FDA, it would be the first gene therapy approved in the United States. But unlike traditional gene therapy, the new treatment doesn't replace disease-causing genes with healthy ones. Instead, it uses technology to reprogram immune cells called T cells to target and attack malignancies.

Democracy Dies in Darkness     Health Alert Wed., Jul. 12, 2017 3:54 p.m.     New cancer treatment endorsed by FDA advisory board Food and Drug Administration advisers on Wednesday enthusiastically endorsed a first-of-its-kind cancer treatment that uses patients' revved-up immune cells to fight the disease. The experts concluded that the therapy's benefits for desperately ill children far outweigh its potentially dangerous side effects. The unanimous recommendation from the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee means the treatment could be approved by the FDA by the end of September, forging a new chapter in immunotherapy. Novartis, the drugmaker behind the CAR T-cell therapy, is seeking approval to use it for children and young adults whose leukemia doesn't respond to traditional treatments. But the approach also is being tested for a range of diseases from non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma to solid tumors. If cleared by the FDA, it would be the first gene therapy approved in the United States. But unlike traditional gene therapy, the new treatment doesn't replace disease-causing genes with healthy ones. Instead, it uses technology to reprogram immune cells called T cells to target and attack malignancies. Read more » Advertisement You are signed up for the following breaking news alerts: Health/Science/Environment. You received this email because you signed up for breaking news alerts. For additional free email alerts and newsletters, or to unsubscribe, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error, or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071