Milano, 28 April. (askanews) – Il Multiple myeloma is one of the most common blood cancers in Italy: every year it affects almost 6 thousand people who, until now, had to face long, continuous and debilitating therapies. But scientific research opens up new perspectives: AIFA has in fact given the green light to cilta-cel refundabilitypersonalized therapy a basis of CAR-T developed by Johnson & Johnson that uses the patient’s cells to directly target the tumor.
Multiple myeloma, how personalized therapy works
“AND a cell therapywhich means that it is a personalized therapy for the selected patient – explains ad askanews Stefania Bramanti, head of the cellular therapies section of the IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas in Milan -: this patient is subjected to apheresis, i.e. a sampling of blood cells. His cells are then sent to a cell manipulation laboratory which arms cells against specific target – which in this case is called BCMA – and makes them capable of destroying tumor cells directly.”
Quality of life as a therapeutic goal
An innovative approach compared to traditional treatments: no more treatments without interruption, but the possibility for patients to suspend therapies and gradually return to a different daily life. «Traditional therapies for patients with multiple myeloma are continuous, and involve the administration of drugs – intravenous or subcutaneous – in a constant manner: patients manage to obtain an excellent response, but essentially they are always on therapy», underlines Francesca Gay, associate professor of hematology at the Department of Biotechnology and Health Science of the University of Turin and doctor of the Hematology Division of the Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital of Turin.
«The patient, after a necessary period of hospitalization, slowly returns to his life and has the possibility of returning to normality, therefore of having a improvement of his quality of life without having to take long-term cancer drugs. This makes the difference, because patients who until now had to continue taking drugs to treat the disease no longer have to take them, with a positive impact also from a psychological point of view.”
Equitable access to care in the area
With the reimbursement in Italy of a new CAR-T that can be used already in the initial stages, a phase is opening that aims not only to prolong survival, but to concretely improve the well-being of patients. «There are a sufficient number of accredited centers to provide the therapy. The effort made is to identify them early and to give access to patients throughout the national territory in the same way – Stefania Bramanti further points out -. It is essential that it is reimbursed, because it is an innovation that changes the natural history of the disease: it gives patients the possibility of returning to their life and work planpreventing the need for constant care from forcing them to be seen only as patients and not as socially active people.”
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