Getting treatment to cancer patients early on is critical for all types of the disease. For patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma, they previously had to wait until several types of treatment failed before they could take advantage of a revolutionary treatment option called CAR T-cell therapy.
Fortunately, new data is showing that the innovative treatment, which helps train a patient’s immune system to fight off cancer, can make a huge difference earlier in the treatment plan.
Read MoreWhat is CAR T-cell therapy?
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, is a form of treatment that creates a new way for immune cells to fight cancer.When a patient is battling multiple myeloma, the immune system is unable to fight off the myeloma cells. However, with CAR T-cell therapy, scientists take out the patient’s T-cells from their body and re-engineer them in a lab, merging them with the man-made chimeric antigen receptor. The new CAR T-cells are then put back into the patient to battle the cancer.
“When we think about multiple myeloma today, many physicians are taught and believe that multiple myeloma is incurable,” Wildgust explained. “And I think at Janssen we … hope to change the outcomes for patients with myeloma as well. What we know is that the best chance for a patient to have the best outcome is to receive the best therapy in that newly diagnosed setting.”
Changing Lives Earlier
Janssen’s Carvykti (generic name cilta-cel), developed with collaborator Legend Biotech, is currently approved as a fifth treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after four or more previous treatments. But exciting new data shows that these patients may not have to wait so long to take advantage of its life-changing benefits.
According to the new study, Carvykti reported a 74% reduction in the risk of disease progression in patients whose cancer had returned or gotten worse after only one to three previous therapies. This is huge news for people recently diagnosed or currently undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma and helps support using Carvykti earlier in the treatment plan.
When it comes to the patients, it’s about making sure they can take advantage of the most effective treatments available as early as possible.
“At Janssen, we’re really excited about the … data because we know and we believe that it’s really going to give patients something transformative,” Wildgust explained.
“Our next step now is to work with regulators to be able to get that approved for patients and as we get it approved, we’re really going to be ramping up our production and accessibility for that across the United States.
“For you, the patient, we know that getting a diagnosis of myeloma is one of those moments in your life that is really awful but what we’re trying to provide now are the best therapies possible to help you with those next steps,” he added.
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