New Research: A Possible Cure for Terminal Cancer Patients

The immunotherapy method recruits the body's immune system to eliminate cancer. Treatment focuses on genetically engineering immune cells to attack cancerous cells.

Recent research in the United States, led by Dr. Stanley Riddell from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Washington, showed impressive results in curing terminal leukemia patients.

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According to the research, which was presented at the "American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting," 94% of the 35 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients in the trial experienced regression of the disease. An additional 40 patients with a different type of blood cancer—non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)—also showed promising results, though not at the same rates: 80% of these patients showed significant symptom improvement, and half of them demonstrated remission of the disease.

In November, another success of immunotherapy was reported in a terminal leukemia case in a British infant, Layla Richards. During the treatment, T-type immune cells were engineered to attack the blood cancer cells. Richards, who was on the brink of death, recovered from the disease.

In the conference, Professor Riddell presented the findings of his research, stating: "To be frank, such response rates to treatment are unprecedented in medicine when dealing with patients at such advanced stages."