Name: Can Gene Therapy Cure Cancer?
Uploaded: undefined
Duration: undefined

Nova

CAR-T Gene Therapy is a new treatment for some forms of Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Can Gene Therapy Cure Cancer?

the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

The John Templeton Foundation

The National Science Foundation

CAR-T gene therapy is a new treatment recently approved for use by the FDA for some forms of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Dimas Padilla—a stage 4 cancer patient—joined one of the first clinical trials at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. For some, including Dimas, results have been promising, though long-term remission rates are not yet known.

CAR-T gene therapy is a new treatment for some forms of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

CAR-T gene therapy is a new treatment for some forms of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Body & Brain

Can Gene Therapy Cure Cancer?Published July 25, 2018Onscreen: Can gene therapy cure cancer? Dimas Padilla was 37 years old and a father of two girls when he got sick.Dimas Padilla: Everything started in July 2011. I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and I was in stage four when they found out.Onscreen: Dimas received chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. But his tumors kept returning.I started getting a lot of tumors around my neck to the point that it pressed my vocal cords. I lost my voice. I wasn’t feeling good……and and they told me Dimas, I don’t have good news. The chemo is no longer, is not working. Your tumors are keep growing so at this point pretty much there’s not much we can do.Onscreen: But there was one opening left in a clinical trial of an experimental gene therapy called CAR-T.Frederick Locke: So these patients are without other hope. Their life expectancy is, is a matter of months.When I first saw Dimas his lymph nodes were growing rapidly despite all the available standard treatment options. So yeah, he was in bad shape.Onscreen: Dimas entered the trial. First, immune cells called T-cells were harvested from his blood. Then researchers used a disabled virus to insert a new gene into those T-cells. Dimas received millions of these engineered cells, called CAR-T cells.Locke: The “CAR” is simply a GPS navigation on the front of that T-cell so it knows where to go and to get to its target.100 kilogram man would get 200 million CAR T-cells infused in him.Onscreen: The new genes helps the T-cells recognize cancer cells and destroy them.Padilla: Think about like an army of soldiers. And once they see or they feel the cancer cells, they destroy it. But what happen is in your blood, so then you get toxicity…and because it stays in your blood that’s why out get those high fevers. I’m talking about 104, 105 degrees.Onscreen: Some patients do not survive. But Dimas did.There is this phrase that I always keep in my mind which is never broken because I didn’t want the cancer to break me.Onscreen: It's too soon to predict how long Dimas, or any other cancer patients, might remain cancer free. But results so far are encouraging enough that the FDA has approved CAR-T therapy for some kinds of leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Koch Foundation

NOVA Science Trust Logo

United States

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

American Samoa

Guam

U.S. Virgin Islands

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

US & Territories

NOVA investigates the story of cannabis from the criminalization that has disproportionately harmed communities of color to the latest medical understanding of the plant. What risks does cannabis pose to the developing brain? How much do we know about its potential medical benefits? As cannabis becomes socially accepted, scientists are exploring its long-term health consequences. (Premiered September 29, 2021)Check out a previously recorded panel discussion and audience Q&amp;A featuring experts and producers from "The Cannabis Question" <a href="https://youtu.be/nSTT5RZ_hxA">here</a>.

As state-legalized cannabis spreads, NOVA explores its little-known risks and benefits.

The Cannabis Question

A 2006 composite image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Telescope shows the chaos of baby stars in the Orion nebula some 1,500 light-years away. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble era is gradually drawing to a close. Here are some highlights from the countless wonders Hubble has shown us during its 31 years in space.

10 spectacular Hubble Space Telescope images

A statue of Zheng He at the Sam Poo Kong Temple in Java, Indonesia. Image Credit: Budianto Santosa, Shutterstock

In the 1400s, Zheng He sailed thousands of miles around Asia and Africa in ships the size of soccer fields, spreading Chinese innovations like compasses and gunpowder in the process.

Transcript

Credits

Support Provided By