A gene therapy technique, also known as gene therapy, is promising to cure two types of cancer: lymphoma and acute lymphoid leukemia.
This technique was first applied in 2012, in the United States, and was most recently used in October 2019, in a terminally ill patient with high risk non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, having had excellent results.
Gene therapy for the cure of these types of cancer will be tried on more patients, to test questions of efficacy and safety, and then it can be approved by Anvisa and incorporated into SUS.
How Genetic Technique Works
The gene therapy technique used to treat lymphoma was the technique called Car T-Cell, which consists of collecting T cells from the patient, a type of white blood cells responsible for defending the organism, which are genetically altered to specifically recognize the cells with cancer. These genetically modified cells are multiplied in the laboratory and are then reinserted into the patient's body.
Then, once inside the body, these cells recognize and bind to cancer cells, destroying them. During the process, the person has to be isolated in a specific place, in the hospital, in order to be protected from any infection, because the immunity is compromised.
The results of this method must be evaluated approximately 3 months after application and, to be considered cured, the person must not have cancer cells for 5 years.
Find out more about gene therapy and what other situations it can be applied to.
When will it be available
Although this technique is already used in the United States, it is expected that, in Brazil, it will take about two years of studies with a larger number of patients, which allow testing the effectiveness and safety of the treatment, before being evaluated by Anvisa and be released in the country.
However, for the sake of budget, it is not known whether this treatment will be available in SUS, in order to be accessible to all patients.
