The Future in T-Cells
Mayra A. Palencia
The City College of New York
Abstract
This essay reviews the article This Treatment Can Cure Cancer. Can It Mend The Heart?” by Gina Kolata, posted in the New York Times on September 11, 2019. The article discusses a scientific argument on whether we can use genetically altered cells that used to cure cancer for heart attacks. Scientists have recently made a breakthrough in the field of medicine in a study where CAR-T cells mended muscle fibers in hearts of mice, and showed to have improved the quality and function of the heart. Scientists want to be able to use this on humans but as of right now the cost is astronomical per patients, and the risk of side effects have halted the possible use in humans, but they are hopeful that it in a near future it can be used to treat cancer patients as well as patients with heart problems.
The Future in T-Cells
According to “This Treatment Can Cure Cancer. Can It Mend The Heart?” CAR-T Cells are used to treat cancers that target the blood. These T-cells are removed from the patients and altered in a lab where they insert a gene with a special receptor called Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) into the T-cells. These engineered cells are then put back into the patients by infusion and then can bind to the cancer cells and destroy them (Nation Cancer Institute, 2017). The breakthrough that has shaped scientific knowledge is that scientists were able to use CAR-T Cells to target scar tissue in the heart. Scar tissue can be detrimental to the heart because it stiffens the heart muscles which eventually leads to heart failure. Scientist have found that T- cells can also help create all forms of tissues and are imperative in wound healing. (New York Times, 2019) This breakthrough in science is incredibly beneficial to not only the science community, but also to patients who are at risk of suffering from heart attacks. Even though it is fairly new we hope it can be applied to humans and hopefully be able to save many lives. One can only hope that it gets approved soon. The article states that as of right now they are using mice to explore more of this phenomenon. What scientist found out was that they were able to see the improvements CAR-T treatment does to a heart that is prone to suffer from scar tissues like fibrosis by placing “turning on” a gene in scar tissues in the heart. Their experiment was effective, and the mice treated with CAR-T had no scar tissue development (New York Times, 2019)
Just as there are breakthroughs, impending obstacles can arise and make this treatment difficult to come by, and being that it is new, not much is known about the effects it has to the human body. Even though this treatment can help the 6 million patients that will eventually succumb to heart failure in this country, this treatment is costly with a whopping $450,000 cost per patient. The price can skyrocket to $1 million or more when adding other expenses like hospital stay per patient (New York Times, 2019). Another negative aspect of this treatment is the possible severe side effects a patient can experience. Some of the side effects include: “high fevers, extremely low blood pressure and effects on the brain like confusion or seizures” Another possible side effect is that these symptoms can be fatal to a person (New York Times, 2019). Even though the outcomes are great, the risk of a patient still losing their life can be problematic if many patients are using this form of therapy. We can only hope with that with trial and error science can make it safe for humans, even though these side effects are severe, it outweighs death if people can actually be saved. As for its cost, one can hope that it decreases over time because of its potential to save lives. If we can apply the same method insurances use for bariatric surgery because it is more cost efficient to do the surgery than for patients to suffer from diseases due to obesity, we can hope that insurances also do the same with this treatment for patients that can suffer from heart diseases.
Even though not much is known of treatment of heart failure with CAR-T cells a patient having possible fatal symptoms may cause setbacks to future treatments, but scientists are hopeful that in the future this can change, especially after seeing the benefits of making small changes to a cell. Doctors and scientists are also hopeful that in the future they will be able to use engineered T-cells to target other cells that create havoc in the human body and expand treatments of cells other than cancer cells. Dr. Epstein stated that the treatment can be very costly but that is ordinary with “first-generation” treatment and drugs. If this treatment is proven to be effective. Eventually, many patients will eventually have the possibility to opt for this treatment if deemed necessary by their doctor (New York Times, 2019). Evidently, science is hopeful with the expansion of the use of T-cells. If it has shown to be effective, we should be looking at what other diseases it can help treat.
Research is vast and ever-expanding. As time progresses we are learning more and more about the human body and how to help it from diseases that can create chaos to us. Researchers were recently able to find a way to turn a cell that humans have to a weapon against cancer cells. Knowing the possibilities of this advancement, they were able to treat another disease that was distinct from cancer. But also has a tremendous effect on our lives. CAR-T therapy is the future of cancer research, but importantly also in treating other diseases that cut lives short. As there are complications to new treatments, eventually we will be able to apply this to many other cases and help improve the overall health of humans.
References
Kolata, G. (2019, September 11). How Immunotherapy Might Be Used to Treat Heart Failure.
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/health/immunotherapy-heart-f failure.html
NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. (n.d.). Retrieved from
