CRISPR May Be Safe And A Feasible Cancer Therapy

It has been reported that in the first US experiment, using CRISPR (a gene-editing technique) in patients with cancer might be safe and feasible. 

In a very small trial, “the doctors were able to take immune system cells from the patients’ blood and alter them genetically to help them recognize and fight cancer, with minimal and manageable side effects.” The researchers used CRISPR to remove “three genes that might have been hindering these cells’ ability to attack the disease, and add a new, fourth feature to help them do the job.”

In an earlier report, the New York Times reported results that suggest that this technology was “was feasible and safe.” 

The study, which has been posted online and is to be presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting next month, included three patients with advanced cancers that progressed despite radiation and chemotherapy treatment.

According to NPR the experiment “was just a first safety test, and was not designed to measure whether such a treatment would work.” The researchers have indicated that they plan “to treat additional patients as part of a trial that will eventually involve 18 participants who have sarcoma, melanoma or myeloma.”

The Inquirer (PA) reported in the time since the trial was approved to go forward, “at least three other CRISPR trials – in sickle cell disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and an inherited form of blindness – have [also] gotten go-aheads.”

CRISPR is a cutting-edge technology that might have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of cancer as well as any other illness that are genetically linked. In theory, CRISPR might even have a potential let us genetically alter treatment modalities that could then successfully treat nongenetic aliments.

Although still many years away before we might see any approved clinical applications for CRISPR, its potential looms high. CRISPR is genuinely a futuristic “Flash Gordan” type method that can change treatment methods.