In a move aimed to make advanced treatments like CAR-T cell therapies more affordable and accessible for patients in the country, doctors at AIIMS, Delhi are in the process of developing a low cost antibody-based adaptive cellular therapy for treatment of multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.
As of now, the therapy has been tested on animal models and has shown promising outcomes.
Dr Mayank Singh, Additional Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at Dr B R Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, (BRAIRCH), AIIMS here explained that the Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a form of adaptive cellular therapy in which a patient’s T cells are isolated, genetically modified and infused back in the patients body to recognise and kill the cancer cells.
“It is based on targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) which helps to target specific tumour antigens which are found cancer cells specially in cases multiple myeloma.
So the therapy developed by the AIIMS researchers recognises BCMA as a target on multiple myeloma cells to eliminate them,” Singh said.
“We intend to take this CAR-T cell therapy for phase-1 clinical trials on humans in the near future to collect substantial evidence regarding its safety and efficacy. Our aim is to bring the cost of this therapy significantly down. There are other forms of CAR-T cell therapies but the cost of which are significantly high,” he said.
Multiple myeloma is a form cancer of the plasma cells which are a type of white blood cell (WBC) that produces antibodies against infection. When these cells become cancerous, they multiply at rapid pace and crowd out normal blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. This form of cancer is often associated with relapse, Singh said.
Traditional cancer treatments like chemo/radiotherapy target rapidly dividing cells but this approach leads to cytotoxicity in normal cells as well leading to severe side effects associated with cancer treatment often leading to fatal outcome, he said.
According to latest data from National cancer registry, the estimated number of incident cases of cancer in India in 2022 was found to be 14,61,427. Furthermore, one in nine people are likely to develop cancer in his or her lifetime.
Delayed diagnosis and limited access to top treatments are major issues in India, especially as cancer cases are expected to rise in the coming years. Dr. Singh’s research group has filed for a patent on their new antibody and is also applying for a patent on their CAR-T therapy.
“The CAR-T cell therapies has changed the way we approach and treat cancer. Development of CAR-T cell therapy has been in the nascent state in India despite the rapid pace it is moving around the world,” Dr Singh said.
