Base editing: Revolutionary therapy clears girl's incurable cancer

[Judi Lynn]

Published
6 hours ago

By James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent

A teenage girl's incurable cancer has been cleared from her body in the first use of a revolutionary new type of medicine. All other treatments for Alyssa's leukaemia had failed. So doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital used "base editing" to perform a feat of biological engineering to build her a new living drug.

Six months later the cancer is undetectable, but Alyssa is still being monitored in case it comes back.

Alyssa, who is 13 and from Leicester, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in May last year.

T-cells are supposed to be the body's guardians - seeking out and destroying threats - but for Alyssa they had become the danger and were growing out of control. Her cancer was aggressive. Chemotherapy, and then a bone-marrow transplant, were unable to rid it from her body.

Without the experimental medicine, the only option left would have been merely to make Alyssa as comfortable as possible.

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-63859184

[usonian]

1. I read that article. It's wonderful.

So happy for Alyssa.

[Phoenix61]

2. I love science. nt

[Hamlette]

3. mind blown

I still don't really get how tv works. This is next NEXT level shit.

[Wounded Bear]

4. K & R...nt

[Duppers]

5. Fantastic! 👍

Bookmarking.

[brer cat]

6. Fantastic! I hope it never comes back

and she lives a long life.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Quick! Tell the magats that Dr Fauci is very interested in Base Editing

... so that they can self-inflict another anti-science wound.

Actually, ... it is likely to be quite expensive for a long while yet.