{"id":425056,"date":"2026-05-13T05:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T05:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425056\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T05:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T05:09:14","slug":"the-promising-immunotherapy-treatment-giving-blood-cancer-patients-hope-if-they-can-afford-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425056\/","title":{"rendered":"The promising immunotherapy treatment giving blood cancer patients hope – if they can afford it"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAR-T treatment involves removing a patient\u2019s immune cells, re-engineering them to attack the cancer, then returning them via an infusion. Photo \/ Getty Image<\/p>\n

\n Cancer treatment is changing. While chemo and radiotherapy aren\u2019t likely to go away any time soon, medical scientists are focused on arming the body\u2019s own immune cells to fight off threats. One cutting-edge treatment offering new hope for patients is CAR-T. It has already had success with patients suffering
\n from blood cancers and there are signs it may even be effective for autoimmune disorders, with early clinical trials putting participants into remission.\n <\/p>\n

Actor Sam Neill\u2019s declaration that he is now free of lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, after participation in a CAR-T trial in Australia made global headlines last month.<\/p>\n

However, there are problems with CAR-T, which involves removing a patient\u2019s immune cells, re-engineering them to attack the cancer, then returning them via an infusion. For a start, the treatment is extremely expensive. In the US, where it has been used for several blood cancers, the cost of the cells alone can range up to almost US$500,000. Plus, the potential side effects are serious, some patients respond initially then relapse, and there is a risk of the immunotherapy treatment causing secondary cancers.<\/p>\n

At Wellington\u2019s Malaghan Institute, researchers are working on making the treatment safer and more effective, in the hope it will be part of the future of medical care in New Zealand. \u201cWe want something that is made in New Zealand and accessible to New Zealanders,\u201d says Rachel Perret, who leads the research programme.<\/p>\n

Currently her team is midway through a groundbreaking clinical trial, ENABLE-2. So far, 30 patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas have been treated using CAR-T cells engineered here, and the aim is to treat another 30 by the end of the year. Collaborating with researchers in Guangzhou, China, the cells that have been developed can be delivered as a one-off outpatient treatment, and results from a smaller initial trial suggest at least some patients will go into long-term remission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main reason for relapse or failure to respond is that the cancer is crafty and constantly changing,\u201d says Perret. \u201cSometimes when we target one protein on the cancer, we drive it to become resistant.\u201d<\/p>\n

More advanced immunotherapies are being developed that engineer a patient\u2019s T-cells to recognise several different proteins simultaneously. This makes it more difficult for the cancer cells to avoid attack.<\/p>\n

Another potential reason the treatment might not work is the CAR-T cells can become exhausted. \u201cWe know part of the exhaustion is our fault,\u201d says Perret. \u201cWhen we take the cells out of a patient\u2019s blood and grow them into CAR-T cells, we have to put a pretty strong push behind them to make them activated and divide into large numbers. Then, when we put them back in the body, they face a fight with the cancer, which is pumping out chemicals and expressing proteins on its surface that are all designed to avoid the immune system and combat it. Those things combine to make the CAR-T cells burn out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SamSam Neill: Cancer-free after participation in CAR-T trial in Australia. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Malaghan researchers are looking at modifying the way they grow and stimulate the CAR-T cells, to make the period of time they are outside the body shorter and less tiring. There are also technologies that can knock out the genes that control T-cell exhaustion. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt can make the cells sort of super soldiers, resistant to all the negative signals that could cause them to become exhausted,\u201d says Perret.<\/p>\n

Potentially serious side effects of the commercial CAR-T therapies available overseas include neurotoxicity and cytokine release syndrome. So far, the CAR-T cells being manufactured by the institute\u2019s partner, BioOra, for use in trials have had a much better toxicity profile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also designed and built what we call a safety switch,\u201d says Perret. \u201cIt\u2019s an additional protein we add to the cells so if they did get problematic because they were too active and pumping out dangerous cytokines, or if the CAR-T cells themselves turn into a cancer, then we\u2019ve got that extra protein tag and we could treat the patients with a readily available, standard drug that would wipe them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blood cancers have been the easiest target for CAR-T cells; solid tumours are next. <\/p>\n

BioOra, a business that spun-out from the Malaghan Institute, is building a manufacturing plant in Christchurch where it can produce at scale and hopefully make the treatment more accessible and affordable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very optimistic that this trial will be successful,\u201d says Perret. \u201cThe exciting thing is we\u2019re doing it here in New Zealand.\u201d <\/p>\n

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