On "Boxed Warnings" -- For CAR-T Therapies In Oncology -- Per My Erstwhile Commenter!

A very cogent commenter offered a link to a NYT story, on the emerging risks of off target effects in the novel cancer therapy. We responded thus:

Yes. It is a real issue. And (in the main) CAR-T therapies are being deployed only in very dangerously ill, "last option" patients.

As with all "last resort" options, we should expect some. . . problems with off target risks (per the NYT story):

". . .The agency noted that the benefits still outweighed the risks of the therapy, which involves removing a type of white blood cells — T cells — and then genetically engineering them to create proteins called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). Infused back into a patient’s blood, the engineered cells allow the T cells to attach to cancer cells and kill them. . . .

Cancer patients who receive CAR-T treatments tend to have few options left, and would be unlikely to alter course even with the new warning, said Dr. John DiPersio, an oncologist with Washington University in St. Louis. . . ."

Very tough choices -- for patients who find themselves in this unfortunate boat.

Namaste -- great input!

नमस्ते