Gene Therapy
We used to think that our fate was in our stars, but now we know that, in large measure, our fate is in our genes...James Watson
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The fantastic voyage of a bag of cells shipped west to be trained in the art of cancer killing
Dave Matthews describes his cancer as “the monster inside me.” It’s the one thing he cannot control.
And over the summer, it began to look as though the monster would prevail.
After six months of treatment and a grueling eight rounds of chemotherapy, Matthews’s lymphoma had stopped responding to medicine’s best efforts. For most patients, that’s the end of the line. Matthews’s doctors, however, gave him one more option.
It would involve siphoning out his white blood cells and sending them on a cross-country expedition so genetic engineers in a factory outside Los Angeles could train them in the ways of cancer killing. The cells would be rewired and…
Resources
A Game-Changing New Cancer Treatment Is Cripplingly Expensive
It’s difficult to compare the price for CAR T therapies to other treatments because gene therapy is new and a CAR T transfusion could be a one-time treatment. (The cost of most cancer therapies is measured by the amount, usually in the thousands, it costs to maintain treatment each month.)
How is Gene Therapy Being Used to Treat Cancer?
Gene therapy can involve replacing abnormal or absent genes with healthy ones that enable cells to produce useful proteins. It also can involve changing the way genes are regulated, so that under- or overactive genes operate properly. Finally, gene therapy can be used to express entirely foreign genes in cells that alter their function and/or survival.
Swift Gene-Editing Method May Revolutionize Treatments for Cancer and Infectious Diseases
Scientists report that they have discovered a way to tweak genes in the body’s immune cells by using electrical fields.
The Million-Dollar Cancer Treatment: Who Will Pay?
So far, few patients have received the new drugs, as commercial health plans and Medicare wrestle with how to cover the treatment.
Cancer and Genetic Science
The field of genomics may revolutionize how we understand and treat cancer. One research scientist explains why.
Clashes Over the Future of Gene Therapy at the US' Biggest Biotech Meeting
After decades of setbacks, gene therapy—a loosely defined umbrella term for any technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease—is finally here.
Companies Rush to Develop ‘Utterly Transformative’ Gene Therapies
Companies and universities are racing to develop these new therapies, which re-engineer and turbocharge millions of a patient’s own immune cells, turning them into cancer killers that researchers call a “living drug.” One of the big goals now is to get them to work for many other cancers, including those of the breast, prostate, ovary, lung and pancreas.
Is cancer gene therapy an empty suit?
The broad application of gene therapy in every context, including cancer, has been hampered by its lack of similarity to the traditional pharmaceutical model of drug development.
It’s not time to freak out that Crispr will cause cancer—yet
The takeaway message of these papers should be more that science takes time, and that the path to developing clinical-ready technologies is not always blemish-free.
Novartis' $4 Million Gene Therapy -- Real Price Or A Negotiation Ploy?
We are in a wondrous age of medicine where CURES for certain types of cancer, rare diseases, blindness and other scourges are imminent. We now need to figure out how to pay for them.
Scientists are using gene editing to try to slow cancer growth
With more research, CRISPR could give us a new cancer treatment.
When Will Genomics Cure Cancer?
A conversation with the biogeneticist Eric S. Lander about how genetic advances are transforming medical treatment.
The fantastic voyage of a bag of cells shipped west to be trained in the art of cancer killing
“We have to figure out how to make these treatments available to everyone,” Matthews said. “There’s good in all of us, and everyone should be afforded the same experience and opportunity I had.”
Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy
Gene therapy is the process of introducing genetic material [RNA or DNA] into a person's cells to fight disease. Gene therapy treats disease by either replacing damaged or missing genes with normal ones, or by providing new genes.
Cancer Gene Therapy
Cancer Gene Therapy is the essential gene and cellular therapy resource for cancer researchers and clinicians, keeping readers up to date with the latest developments in gene and cellular therapies for cancer. The journal publishes original laboratory and clinical research papers, case reports and review articles.
Genomic Health
GenomicHealth.com is designed to help patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals understand how individualized genomic profiling of tumor tissue may help improve cancer management.
American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy
ASGCT's MISSION is to advance knowledge, awareness, and education leading to the discovery and clinical application of genetic and cellular therapies to alleviate human disease.
British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy
The aim of the British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy is to accelerate scientific progress and promote ethical and efficient transfer of gene- and cell-based technologies from the laboratory into the clinic.
Gene Therapy Net
Gene Therapy Net is the web resource for patients and professionals interested in gene therapy. The objectives of Gene Therapy Net are to be the information resource for basic and clinical research in gene therapy, cell therapy, and genetic vaccines, and to serve as a network in the exchange of information and news related to above areas.
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