Types of Cell Treatment
Cell treatment uses the body’s immune cells to help fight diseases. It also helps
improve a weakened immune system marketfold, repair damaged tissue and organs, and
reduce inflammation. The therapy is sometimes called regenerative medicine.
The most common type of cell therapy is a bone marrow transplant (also known as a
stem cell transplant). It can help people with leukemia and lymphoma, and is used
to treat many other cancers and blood disorders, such as thalassemia and multiple
myeloma.
In most cases, you’ll receive high doses of chemotherapy before a transplant. This
can cause problems such as bleeding and an increased risk of infection. Talk with
your doctor about how serious the side effects of these treatments might be, and
what steps you need to take to prevent them.
Another type of cell therapy, called adoptive immunotherapy, involves transferring
your own immune cells from another person to fight cancer or other diseases. You
might be eligible for a clinical trial that uses this approach.
CAR T-cells: Your own T cells are genetically modified to recognise a protein on the
surface of cancer cells. These changed cells are then grown and infused back into
you. They will then be able to attack the cancer cells.
This is an exciting new type of cell therapy that is being tested for some patients
with leukaemia and lymphoma. It is a very complex and specialist treatment.
The cells are collected from your blood and then genetically engineered to recognise
the cancer protein. The modified T cells are then injected back into you over a two-
day period and then monitored for side effects.
Other types of cell therapy include using patient-derived T cells to target cancer
antigens and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) that bind to a cancer cell’s surface
proteins. These therapies have shown promise for treating melanoma, but more
research is needed to overcome immune-suppressing signals in the tumor and build
stronger engineered T-cell receptor cells that are safer, longer-lasting and more
effective against solid tumors.
These therapies are still in early stages of development and will need to undergo
further tests before they can be deemed safe and effective for use in a clinical trial.
NCI-supported research will help identify the right molecules that mark cancer cells
and support infrastructure to bring these new approaches to clinical trials across the
country.
If successful, these therapies will have a significant impact on health care without
needing to transplant a single cell. They could provide pain relief, help repair and
rejuvenate damaged tissue, rebuild cartilage in joints, restore nerves or tendons
after injury, and treat conditions such as arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.
This technology could one day help people with cancers, neurodegenerative
diseases and other autoimmune diseases to heal faster. It could also provide relief
for patients with chronic pain and fibromyalgia by repairing and regenerating injured
tissues.
What’s more, this technology has the potential to one day create bioengineered
organs. These cells could be reprogrammed to develop into heart muscle, liver or
kidneys.
