A new gene therapy cancer treatment has the Medical Director for the Boundary Trails Regional Cancer program intrigued.

Dr. Cornie Woelk explains the treatment for B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) developed by Novartis, was recently brought to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was unanimously recommended for commercial use in the United States.

If approved the treatment will be the first commercially available gene therapy.

The CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel) r/r B-Cell ALL program, uses investigational chimeric antigen receptor T-Cells (CAR-T) therapy, to treat patients with relapsed or refractory ALL in pediatric and young adult patients.

Woelk explains CTL019 is unique for each patient, "it's basically a therapy where they remove immunological cells from an individual, then reprogram them to attack the cancer inside of that individual. This is a new and very latest kind of look at tackling cancers."

Leukemia is  a cancer in which the bone marrow creates too many immature lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell.) ALL is the most common leukemia found in young adults and children.

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 6,200 Canadians will be diagnosed with leukemia this year alone. Of those, 2,900 Canadians will die from leukemia.

Dr. Woelk explains ALL is one of the success stories in cancer treatment. Approximately 85 percent of all comers who undergo standard chemotherapy are cured of the disease.

"The chemotherapy starts very quickly, intense and then it becomes less intense, but it goes on to up to 3 years."

CAR-T is designed to be quicker, more effective, and easier on the body than other cancer treatment methods, however, there isn't much data around the treatment, as only a few people have undergone the treatment.

"What we're trying to do here is find that magic thing that will attack a cancer cell in a way that creates the least amount of side effects," says Dr. Woelk. "Unfortunately nothing has no side effects, and my understanding of this treatment is that it is also not without its side effects."

Dr. Woelk notes that from his reading, common side effects include reactions like other immune/infection reactions, fever, malaise, headaches. However, there are also serious side effects like confusion, dangerously low blood pressures, and risk of ongoing infections. Long term side effects are yet to be determined.

CTL019 could be available in the U.S in the near future. However, it's too early to know if this could come to Canada.

Since the treatment is unique for each patient, there is no way to mass produce it and treatment could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

However, Woelk explains if they can find a way of lowering the cost of the treatment, and if it's as effective as initial tests suggest, it could become an appealing method of treating ALL.