If a person gets cancer, he starts seeing his world coming to an end, but now a ray of hope has started appearing in his life. Made in India CAR-T Cell Therapy has been introduced for cancer patients above 15 years of age who do not respond well to conventional treatment chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant. Through this, B-cell Lymphomas and B-acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia will be treated.


Successful treatment of so many patients
This therapy for cancer treatment is available in Delhi hospitals. From November 2022 to December 2023, Apollo Group of Hospitals gave this therapy to 6 patients, which was successful. It included 5 adults and one child. Of these patients, 4 were given indigenous therapy under clinical trials, out of which 2 patients received commercial international CAR-T cell therapy.

Dinesh Madhavan, Group President of Oncology and International at Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited, told Times of India that three of these cancer patients have completed one year after being given CAR-T cell therapy and are still healthy. Apart from this, at least 10 more patients are being given this therapy, this treatment will now be commercially available.

How much will it cost?
Dinesh Madhavan further said, 'The cost of this treatment will be between Rs 75 lakh to Rs 90 lakh'. The approval of this indigenous therapy has come under which patients above 15 years of age suffering from B-cell Lymphomas and B-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The patient can be treated.

Listen to this patient
A 32-year-old patient resident of Chennai was also treated through CAR-T cell therapy in January 2023. He told The Times of India that it was difficult for him to stay away from his family for more than a month, but he is fine now. This woman said. 'Now I can do my job and household chores.'

How does this therapy work?
Doctors say that CAR-T cell therapy is often called living drugs, in which T cells are extracted from cancer patients. This is a type of white blood cells whose job is to fight cancer cells. A process is used in this which is called Apheresis. These T cells are genetically modified in a controlled lab through a safe vehicle. So that they can express modified connectors on their surface, which are called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). This CAR is specially designed to identify proteins that express abnormally in some cells. Then it is increased several times according to the dose and is infused directly to the patient. Dr. Amita Mahajan says that this therapy is given to those cancer patients on whom all kinds of standard treatment have failed.

(PC: Freepik)