The latest breakthrough in cancer treatment could prove to be “the cure” that kills it all, including a $50 billion-a-year industry. Dr. Carl June and his team at The University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have discovered a fresh, yet promising procedure that has leukemia patients marveling and pharmaceutical companies weary.
On August 10, 2011, the New England Journal of Medicine announced that the Alliance of Cancer Gene Therapy funded a clinical trial performed on three patients with the most common type of blood disease, chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The innovation that genetically alters T-cells and infuses them back into the body after chemotherapy has astonishingly decimated over six pounds of cancer in 28 days. All three terminally ill subjects have been in remission for over 10 months with two of the three having no trace of malignant cells, and the other with 75 percent shrinkage in the tumor.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. alone averages 15,000 new cases of leukemia every year, killing 4,300. The only treatment available is to undergo chemotherapy and radiation to stall the disease, and life-threatening bone marrow transplants to aid in remission. Dr. June said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg, “This is like a bone marrow transplant where the patient is the donor…this might make treatment more widely available with less long-term toxicity.”
His new procedure takes a small sample of the patient’s own T-cells extracted from their blood, and genetically modifies them to recognize cancer cells. They are then mixed with genetically harvested T-cells that have a similar coding to the HIV virus in the sense that they multiply 1000 fold when infused back into the body. Four days after chemotherapy, when the white blood cells are at their lowest and weakest points, the new genetically altered T-cells are given in one dose for three days, and act as replacement “serial killing” cells. Dr. June said of the research, “the results exceeded our expectations quite a bit.” Oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. David Steensma, who wasn’t involved in the study said, “[the army of T-cells] not only has attacked and cleared the field but it’s also set up a patrol to make sure the enemy doesn’t come back.”
So if a potential cure has been found, then why is there a lack of funding for further research and clinical trials? Both the pharmaceutical industry and the government’s National Institute of Health have denied financing this project and many others in the past. An ongoing battle since the 1970s has prevented a cure from obliterating not only a life altering disease, but also that of a lucrative cancer industry.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola’s article, “We Don’t Have a Cure for Cancer Yet – or Do We?” which was posted August 6, 2011, just four days before Dr. June’s study was released, states that economic forecasts predict over 20 million new cancer cases will emerge by 2025, and the current $50 billion-a-year industry will increase by 15 percent per year over the next 14 years due to the cost of post-chemo treatments. Dr. Mercola states, “Pfizer alone projects it’s annual cancer drug returns will be $11 billion by 2018.”
The New York Times has said, “Together, large pharmaceutical companies and smaller biotechnology companies are pouring billions of dollars into developing cancer drugs.” While this development supplies millions of Americans with employment, 547,500 cancer patients are losing their lives each year. Dr. Mercola suggests “the FDA continues to serve its client, Big Pharma, by making sure toxic chemotherapy, along with surgery and radiation, are the only cancer treatment options legally available to you.” Discussing the differences in profits between drugs and supplements, Dr. Mercola adds, “Over 800 studies show Vitamin D could have cancer prevention and/or treatment possibilities,” but Vitamin D can’t be patented because it’s a simple supplement, and therefore, profits couldn’t compare to that of a branded prescription drug.
As the stock market recently plunged, so did the interest for investing in the biotech industry. According to Seeking Alpha’s article “Biotechs Offer Great News, So What’s Confusing Investors?” published August 16, 2011, the selloff of stock in the biotech firm, Dendreon, has led investors to reconsider enthusiasm for other such developing firms despite recent advancements. Dr. June’s study should be exciting to investors, but the biotech industry is “struggling in a market that advocates shorting each and every successful firm’s stock without discrimination. Those who keep building wealth on the demise of the biotech sector took advantage of Dendreon’s huge dive to create unrealistic scenarios.”
Although Dr. June’s study shows incredible results so far for three patients, “the long term toxicities and efficacy are not at all clear…it could be historic, but it will take several more years and many more cases before we know,” Dr. Bruce Chabner, clinical director at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, told ABC News. However, owning the patents on the method makes Dr. June’s technique a viable procedure for any company that gets involved. “I want to make sure it gets FDA-approved…it’s at an early stage…whether we’ll work with an existing company or a new start up, I don’t know yet,” he told Bloomberg. Dr. June is currently testing his patent on other cancer types, including pancreatic, ovarian, and mesothelioma.
As one door could close on an industry that has been prolonging the continuation of toxic treatments, another could spur a medical advancement that blends profits with virtuous operations.
To learn more about Dr. Carl June and the Alliance of Cancer Gene Therapy visit http://www.acgtfoundation.org
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