11-year-old Leukaemia patient first cured with CAR T-cell in Australia
An 11-year-old boy has had his genes reprogrammed and become the first person in Australia to be cured of cancer using a breakthrough treatment.
An 11-year-old boy’s five-year-battle with a rare leukaemia has come to a happy end after he was cured thanks to a new form of treatment being offered in Australia.
Kamm Denieger became the first person in NSW to receive chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (also known as CAR T-cell) at the Kids’ Cancer Centre at Randwick, which started offering it in August last year to treat aggressive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, like the type Kamm had.
“I feel quite special,” Kamm told 7 News.
RELATED: New question your doctor could ask
RELATED: Worrying trend Aussies are searching
“Thank you, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me,” he said.
During the young boy’s battle, doctors tried chemotherapy as well as transplanting bone marrow from his younger sister, Erin, but it failed to keep the cancer at bay.
So, as part of his treatment, doctors took Kamm’s blood and used genetic reprogramming to adapt the immune cells, so when they were reintroduced to his bloodstream, they began attacking and eliminating the cancerous cells.
One month later he was declared cancer-free.
RELATED: Frightening feared impact of COVID
Prior to the introduction of CAR T-cell therapy within the Sydney Children’s Hospital network, patients would have to travel to the United States for treatment.
CAR T-cell therapy targets the white blood cells that bolster our immune systems and help the body respond to pathogens.
“This is the most breakthrough therapy in the treatment of aggressive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that we’ve seen in decades,” Kids Cancer Centre head assistant professor Tracey O’Brien said at the announcement that the centre would offer the treatment.
CAR T-cell has currently proven to be effective in treating cancers like acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and large B-cell lymphoma, but researchers are working to determine if it can be used to treat solid ones like breast and prostate cancer.
‘100pc match’: Jack the Ripper finally solved
For nearly 140 years the Jack the Ripper mystery has gripped the world — and now the brutal killer’s identity has been confirmed by a ‘100 per cent’ DNA match.
Deadly disease lands in major cities
A major health alert has been issued for two major Aussie cities after a highly-infectious and deadly disease was detected in returned travellers.
Urgent warning over deadly disease
A major measles alert has been issued for two Australian states after numerous reports of measles cases, including an infected toddler who visited a shopping centre.