Clinical trials are currently underway to make the stem cell cancer therapy available in the UAE, which will significantly reduce the need for patients to go abroad for treatment.
Under the Car T-cell therapy the stem cells are engineered to fight off cancer and the therapy is currently available at only a limited number of hospitals in Europe, USA and Israel.
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It is primarily suitable for the treatment of bone marrow and blood cancers and the research into the therapy is being undertaken at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre (ADSCC) to bring the remedy to UAE hospitals under which process the T cells are extracted from a patient’s blood which are then genetically altered in a lab.
After a chimeric antigen receptor is added it improves the ability of T-cells to identity cancer cells and destroy them. The upgraded Car T-cell is then injected into the patient’s blood so it can get to work in fighting off cancer cells.
Dr Yendry Ventura Carmenate, an immunologist at ADSCC and principal investigator of the Car T-cell clinical trial, said that the cancer treatment continues to be one of “the world’s most complex and challenging medical journeys.”
The research is being completed in partnership with Miltenyi Biotec, a German bio-tech company.
Dr Humaid Al Shamsi, professor of oncology at the University of Sharjah said the “technology is very new and it will change the way we treat cancer.”
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A recent study in China has also shown it can be effective in treating gastric cancer and not just blood cancers. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) leukaemia was responsible for 272 new cases of cancer in the UAE in 2020, or 5.6 per cent of all cancer cases and in total there were 4,807 cancer cases in the UAE in 2020.
Currently, a course of treatment can cost up to $400,000 (Dh1.4 million) per patient. (AW)
