A Victoria man had 53 different tumours scattered all over his body, but after just weeks of treatment he not only started to feel better but his tumours started to disappear before he went into complete remission.
Those results, for patients who just two decades ago would have been considered incurable, are thanks to advancements in immunotherapy, according to Dr. Brad Nelson.
He鈥檚 the director of the Deeley Research Centre at Victoria鈥檚 Royal Jubilee Hospital, which is celebrating 20 years of innovation that鈥檚 given hope to those who have no other cancer treatments to turn to. The centre advances various fronts 鈥� all centred around harnessing the power of the immune system to find new therapies and treatments for hard-to-cure cancers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e taking on some of the biggest challenges, the toughest science that humanity faces,鈥� Nelson said while walking through the centre鈥檚 various labs on Aug. 23.
鈥淲hen that immune system kicks in and starts attacking cancer, patients do better and so with immunotherapy what we鈥檙e trying to do is just make that happen more often, and stronger.鈥�
The Victoria centre is running a clinical trial on genetically engineered CAR-T cells, which are hardwired to find and destroy cancer. The immunotherapy lab develops the CAR-T cells by introducing genes to T-cells derived from a patient鈥檚 blood over a 12-day process. When that鈥檚 complete, the millions of new cells provide a supercharged fleet of cancer fighters that is put back into a patient鈥檚 bloodstream so they can travel to cancerous sites all over the body.
鈥淎 patient might have let鈥檚 say a million T-cells fighting their cancer, in this way we can engineer it so they鈥檝e got a billion T-cells fighting,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淚f there are more cancer cells than T-cells, you鈥檙e going to lose that battle, in this way though, we can really tilt things in favour of the T-cells.鈥�
The treatment has proved phenomenally successful for those with conditions like leukemia and lymphoma and has usually produced fewer side effects. As the trial鈥檚 first phase established the treatment鈥檚 feasibility and safety, it鈥檚 set to grow to around 100 patients from the current 70. A study on an earlier cohort showed fabulous results, Nelson said, with many patients鈥� cancer completely disappearing after standard treatments weren鈥檛 working for them.
鈥淭hey really needed a new option and because of the support of the community and this work, we鈥檝e been able to provide that,鈥� he said.
Immunotherapy marks the hottest area in cancer research, Nelson said, and in just the last decade it鈥檚 had numerous breakthroughs on a wide spectrum of cancers. While the Deeley centre鈥檚 work helps spur those solutions, it鈥檚 also growing the next generation of researchers taking on cancer.
High schoolers and university students are a fixture at the research lab every summer, and some who were plugging away on Aug. 23 said working at the centre offers a unique shot at being immersed in cancer research.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 super exciting,鈥� said UVic co-op student Bridget Mateyko, adding that it鈥檚 interesting they get to contribute a small amount to the lab鈥檚 histology research. 鈥淏eing a part of big studies is very interesting.鈥�
Research assistant Breeze Gladwin was also working away in the lab as her team tries to figure out the role of B-cells and how the antibody creators can be leveraged into potential therapies.
鈥淓veryone here is so committed to what we do and everyone here cares so much about the reason why we do it,鈥� she said.
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