As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel approved the first-ever gene therapy treatment for cancer, the doors for better treatment of this deadly disease have opened. It’s been a while that researchers have been working on gene therapy to address various kinds of cancer. Approval from FDA has, in fact, encouraged several pharma majors and universities to develop new therapies which can re-engineer the immune cells of the cancer patients. It is in this context that cancer gene therapy is a ground-breaking development in the life sciences sector. All the three varieties of gene therapy, namely, oncolytic virotherapy, gene transfer, and gene-induced immunotherapy, have emerged as solutions which hold immense potential for cancer treatment.
How is cancer gene therapy better than other cancer treatments?
Unlike the other treatments, gene therapy focuses on modifying the cells and using them as drugs. What happens in this process is that, either the cells are totally removed from the patient’s body, or certain genetic constructs are injected into the specific cells in the body. CAR-T cell therapy is the process through which cells are removed and manipulated outside the body. The traditional drugs usually target the specific cell which is involved in disease progression. Gene therapies like CAR-T, on the other hand, focus on the very DNA or RNA which is the residence of the defect. This is precisely the reason they produce better results in treating cancer and are also safer.
Why did it take so long for cancer gene therapy to be adopted in clinical treatment?
Usually, around 10 to 15 years are taken by a drug to move from preclinical discovery to the approval stage. Especially in the case of critical conditions like cancer, it becomes very important that each detail of the treatment is considered before the drug or the therapy is adopted in clinical treatments. This explains why a cost intensive therapy like cancer gene therapy took some time to get the required approval from the authorities.
In fact, as therapies like CAR-T get approval from the FDA, it is expected that major names in the pharma industry will concoct their own versions of the treatment. And, such a development is sure to have long-term benefits for the patients, and the life sciences community in general.
