Hope for blood cancer patients after immunotherapy drug trials show ‘groundbreaking results’

A top British hospital has revealed that new immunotherapy trials are resulting in ‘groundbreaking’ results in blood cancer patients.  

The Christie Foundation Trust in Manchester is running around 30 clinical trials for a set of drugs that are so cutting-edge that they don’t yet have names. 

The trials are testing the efficacy of the drugs in fighting cancers, including myeloma, a disease that develops from plasma cells in the bone marrow.

Dr. Emma Searle, consultant haematologist, told the Mirror: ‘The results for this kind of trial, using drugs that enable the immune system to see and attack the myeloma, are incredibly impressive. 

‘Using the drugs on their own, we are seeing responses in over two-thirds of patients who have no standard treatment options left.’

While some of the new immunotherapies being trialed are still currently only available as trials in Manchester and London, it is hoped that they will soon be rolled out across the UK

She said that when used in combination, the drugs have caused a response in around 90% of patients.

‘These drugs are a huge breakthrough in this type of cancer, allowing patients without standard treatment options to achieve remission, in many cases for months or years,’ the consultant said. 

‘When the drugs are used alone they achieve a remission lasting one to two years in most patients… Used in combination with other myeloma drugs, it is likely that responses and the effect on life expectancy will be even longer.’ 

Roughly 6,000 Brits are diagnosed with myeloma every year. 

While some of the new immunotherapies being trialed are still currently only available as trials in Manchester and London, it is hoped that they will soon be rolled out across the UK.  

Trial participant Jan Ross, 57, from Liverpool, said: ‘Thanks to this amazing new trial drug, after just seven months the cancer can’t be detected.’