FDA advisers recommend approval of new cancer therapy


A new cancer treatment endorsed Wednesday by the Federal Drug Administration's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee is being described by one panel member as "the most exciting thing I've seen in my lifetime."
CAR T-cell therapy, made by Novartis, retrains a patient's immune cells so they target and attack cancer; the cells are removed from the body, sent to Novartis' plant so they can be genetically modified, and then shipped back to the patient for infusion. Novartis is seeking approval for use in children and young adults with leukemia who have relapsed despite undergoing chemotherapy. Stephen Grupp, the oncologist who led Novartis' trial, said most of the patients experienced cytokine release syndrome, which results in fever and flulike symptoms, and some had seizures and delirium.
If the FDA approves CAR T-cell therapy, which could happen by the end of September, it would be the first gene therapy cleared for use in the United States. Thomas Whitehead's daughter, Emily, was the first child to go through the treatment, at age six. She had leukemia and was close to death, he said, and while the CAR T-cell therapy nearly killed her, she survived and no longer has cancer, The Washington Post reports. He spoke in front of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on Wednesday and told them, "If you want to see what a cure looks like for relapsed ALL [acute lymphoblastic leukemia], she's standing right beside me."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
August 24 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in voting
Cartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugs
Talking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year