CAR-T Cell Therapy | Affordable treatment in India

Source

Source channel

WION

Published

2024-04-06T00:00:00+00:00

Duration

220 seconds

Evidence type

trusted_source

Review status

approved

Reviewed

2026-08-14T23:19:23.452133+00:00

Reviewer role

Not specified

Applicability

General education; individual applicability depends on the clinical situation.

Topics

• Personalized medicine
• gene therapy
• india cancer affordable treatment

Transcript

A ray of hope has emerged in the fight to treat cancer. India has made a breakthrough that will change our lives. New Delhi launched its first gene therapy for cancer which will make the treatment more affordable and less painful for the patients. The Indian President Droupadi Murmu has launched the country's first homegrown anti-cancer T-cell therapy called the NexCAR19, placing India on the global map of cell and gene therapy. President Murmu said that the development of this therapy is an example of 'Make in India' initiative and speaks volumes about the Indian scientists and physicians. But before explaining how the therapy is administered to the patient, first let's tell you what are the T-cells. Now these are a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes; they play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T-cells help the immune system fight germs and protect the human body from disease. According to researchers, this T-cell therapy technology will ensure that those who undergo cancer treatment do not have to endure much pain like chemotherapy. In phase one and phase two trials, we had 64 patients who were enrolled for this therapy. 57 of them received it. Now, since the time the approval has come, which came just recently in October '23, and after the various other things were put in place, we just started treating patients from December '23. From then till now, we've had about 25 patients enrolled. Roughly about 15 patients have been infused already, some of them are waiting for their infusion. So far, only America and some European countries had this technology, which meant it was very expensive for patients—a treatment abroad costs around $40 million. But the NexCAR19, that's the T-cell therapy launched by India, is very affordable. It is a personalized medicine, and it's called personalized and precise medicine. That means for every patient, we have to make a custom-made, tailored product, unlike off-the-shelf therapies like chemotherapy. In India, there are more than 10 hospitals that have already started doing the CAR-T cell therapy on cancer patients. Here we are at Tata Memorial Centre, which was the first such hospital to do so. They have a dedicated ward specifically for cancer patients to get this advanced treatment. Doctors say they are getting a lot of interest and a lot of increase in demand for such advanced treatment. They have two isolation rooms as well. As we speak, there are already two patients who are undergoing the CAR-T cell therapy process. Nationally, more than 100 such patients have been treated successfully, and if you talk about Tata Memorial Centre alone, since they have started their trials, more than 75 patients have been successfully treated with CAR-T cell therapy.