{"id":37998,"date":"2023-11-03T02:03:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37998"},"modified":"2025-04-23T03:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T22:09:13","slug":"car-t-cell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/car-t-cell\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s own CAR-T cell therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in news?<\/li>\n<li>CAR-T cell therapy<\/li>\n<li>What is CAR-T cell therapy, and how do CAR-T cells find and destroy cancer cells?<\/li>\n<li>How effective and different is this from other cancer treatments like, say, chemotherapy?<\/li>\n<li>NexCAR19<\/li>\n<li>What is NexCAR19?<\/li>\n<li>Who can get the NexCAR19 therapy?<\/li>\n<li>Are children eligible for the therapy too?<\/li>\n<li>What are the side-effects of this therapy?<\/li>\n<li>How much will this treatment cost?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>NexCAR19 is India\u2019s first indigenously-developed CAR-T cell therapy.<\/li>\n<li>Recently, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) granted market authorisation for NexCAR19 to ImmunoACT, a company incubated by IIT Bombay.<\/li>\n<li>This paves the way for the commercial launch of this therapy in India, where it is expected to be available to cancer patients at a tenth of the cost abroad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is CAR-T cell therapy, and how do CAR-T cells find and destroy cancer cells?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2023\/11\/3\/12\/49\/47\/65449f136ea8102952887221_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/li>\n<li>CAR-T is a revolutionary therapy that <u>modifies immune cells, specifically T-cells<\/u>, by turning them into potent cancer fighters known as CAR-T cells.<\/li>\n<li>T-cells are special cells (white blood cells that find and fight illness and infection) whose primary function is cytotoxic, meaning it can kill other cells.<\/li>\n<li>CAR-T therapy, we genetically modify them into cancer-fighting cells.<\/li>\n<li>These supercharged cells are then put back into the body, and they go after cancer cells \u2014 especially in blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphomas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How effective and different is this from other cancer treatments like, say, chemotherapy?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>While chemotherapy and immunotherapy may add a few months or years to a cancer patient\u2019s life, <u>cell-and-gene therapy is designed to cure and provide lifelong benefit<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>It makes treatment easier with a one-time therapy [unlike several sessions of chemotherapy].<\/li>\n<li>It is a lifeline for non-responsive cancer patients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is NexCAR19?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>NexCar19 is a type of CAR-T and gene therapy developed <u>indigenously in India by ImmunoACT<\/u>, which is a company incubated at IIT Bombay.<\/li>\n<li>This therapy is designed to target cancer cells that carry the CD19 protein.\n<ul>\n<li>This protein acts like a flag on cancer cells, which allows CAR-T cells to recognise and attach themselves to the cancer cells and start the process of elimination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>India is now <u>one of the first developing countries to have its indigenous CAR-T and gene therapy platform<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Who can get the NexCAR19 therapy?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The therapy is for people with B-cell lymphomas who didnot respond to standard treatments like chemotherapy, leading to relapse or recurrence of the cancer.\n<ul>\n<li>B-cell lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes.<\/li>\n<li>Lymphocytes make antibodies, which are proteins that help fight infections.<\/li>\n<li>They are often found in lymph nodes or other lymphoid tissues such as the spleen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Essentially, patients only need to give a blood sample at their clinic, and come back in 7-10 days for reinfusion.\n<ul>\n<li>The blood goes to the lab, where the T-cells are genetically modified. In a week to 10 days, these cells return to the clinic for patient reinfusion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Recovery typically occurs within two weeks after one cycle of the treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Are children eligible for the therapy too?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>For now, ImmunoACT has received CDSCO approval for use in patients aged 15 years and older.<\/li>\n<li>The paediatric trial phase is currently underway at the Tata Memorial Hospital, in collaboration with IIT-Bombay.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What are the side-effects of this therapy?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>NexCar19leads to significantly lower drug-related toxicities. It causes <u>minimal damage to neurons and the central nervous system<\/u>, a condition known as neurotoxicit\n<ul>\n<li>Neurotoxicity can sometimes occur when CAR-T cells recognise the CD19 protein and enter the brain, potentially leading to life-threatening situations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The therapy also results in minimal Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS).\n<ul>\n<li>CRS is characterised by <u>inflammation and hyperinflammation in the body due to the death of a significant number of tumour cells<\/u>, as CAR-T cells are designed to target and eliminate cancer cells.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How much will this treatment cost?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Currently, the treatment at a price range of Rs 30-40 lakh and the target to the company is to bring it down to Rs 10-20 lakh.<\/li>\n<li>As technology matures and manufacturing processes improve, it is anticipated that the cost will decrease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What are Lymphocytes?<\/h3>\n<p>Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that are part of the immune system.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Q2) What is ImmunoACT?<\/h3>\n<p>ImmunoACT is a company that develops cell and gene therapies in India. The company was spun out of IIT-Bombay in 2018. ImmunoACT&#8217;s mission is to provide affordable access to novel autologous CAR-T cell therapies.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/indias-own-car-t-cell-therapy-what-is-it-when-will-it-be-available-and-at-what-cost-9009776\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>India\u2019s own CAR-T cell therapy: What is it, when will it be available, and at what cost?<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/news\/health\/cancer-treatment-breakthrough-india-s-homegrown-car-t-cell-therapy-a-form-of-immunotherapy-gets-market-authorisation-92302\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Down To Earth<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/home\/science\/indias-1st-car-t-cell-therapy-developed-by-immunoact-gets-cdsco-nod\/articleshow\/104403237.cms?from=mdr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Times of India<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NexCar19 is a type of CAR-T and gene therapy developed indigenously in India by ImmunoACT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}