American Scientists Discover "CD22" Molecule to Cure Leukemia
A group of American Scientists have discovered the cure for the deadly disease, Leukemia, according to reports of the Nature Medicine Journal.
The new study published on Tuesday 21st November, showed that researches carried out over the years have proven that the possibility of a cure for the blood disease is now realistic, in terms of combating the disease which affects even children as young as seven years of age.
A study recently published in the Journal Nature Medicine magazine, showed that a group of National Institute of Health Scientists in conjunction with Stanford scientists have found a unique molecule known as “CD22”.
The “CD22” molecule can serve as a potent combatant against the acute lymphoblastic leukemia disease which is a form of blood cancer, and a common childhood cancer.
According to reports, the development came as a result of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a cell-based gene therapy last August, named the “CAR T-cell” treatment.
The CAR T-cell (Chimeric antigen receptors which grafts an arbitrary specificity onto an immune effector cell, named T-cell) is a therapy which requires the extraction of blood from affected patients and the removal of the T cells from it.
The therapy works by having a patient’s immune cells modified to find and attack cells having on their surface the Leukemia cells of molecule “CD19”.
The therapy however, relies on the immune effector cell, T-cell, which has a potential of becoming a great targeting and cancer cell killer within the blood.
Crystal Mackall, a Stanford oncologist and Terry Fry, a NIH’s pediatric hematologist both discovered the powerful potential of the CD22 molecule.
21 patients aged seven to thirty were treated with a B-cell leukemia treatment in order to test and further evaluate the new CD22-directed procedure.
Of the 21 patients, 17 of them had previously been treated with CD19 therapy. Out of the treated 17, 15 either relapsed or failed to respond to the treatment.
It was found that one in six patients experienced complete remission after treatment with the lowest dose level. Also, with a higher or escalated dose, 11 out of the 15 patients entered remission.
The new CD22-directed therapy method is helpful because some patient’s cancer cells, especially those who undergo CD19-directed therapy saw their cancers cells stop expressing the CD19 molecule on the cell surface.
The relapse rate of cancer cells from the CD22-directed therapy also proves high, statistically.
In a bid to eliminate or cure leukemia in the future, scientists and researchers believe that targeting the CD19 and CD22 molecules may provide an opportunity where cancer cells would be unable to evade attack or hide in the blood, thus providing a therapy suited for curing leukemia.
- Body pains in the bones or joints
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Loss of appetite or weakness
- Bleeding
- Easy bruising
- Frequent infections
- Mouth ulcer
- Nosebleed
- Pallor
- Red spots on skin
- Shortness of breath
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Unintentional weight loss
PS: Always consult a medical doctor for professional health-related advice
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