Cancer remission achieved after commercial use of NexCAR19, India’s first indigenous CAR-T cell therapy | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Cancer remission achieved after commercial use of NexCAR19, India’s first indigenous CAR-T cell therapy

Posted 07 Feb 2024

Updated 18 Mar 2024

2 min read

  • NexCAR19 has been developed by ImmunoAct, a company incubated under IIT Bombay, and Tata Memorial Hospital.
    • NexCAR19 was granted market authorization by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in 2023.
  • CAR-T cell therapy is a new approach in immunotherapy, where the patient’s immune system is strengthened to attack cancer cells. 

 

 

  • It restores the ability of the T-cells to recognise the cancer cells and kill them. 
    • T-cells are white blood cells that recognize and fight infections and cancerous growths. 
    • In advanced stages, cancer cells can inactivate T-cells or modify themselves so that T-cells cannot detect them. 
  • Therapy involves genetic engineering of T-cells by introducing Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs), to produce CAR T-cells
    • CARs are proteins that assist T-cells to recognise and attach to a specific protein, or antigen, present on cancer cells. 

 

  • Significance of CAR-T cell therapy:
    • Very effective against some types of cancer e.g. Leukemia, Lymphoma.
    • Short treatment time and more rapid recovery as unlike chemotherapy, it is administered only once to a patient.
    • Useful for cancers not responding to combinations of chemotherapy or other immunotherapy approaches.
    • CAR T-cells are known as living drugs as T-cells persist in the body for long-term and can benefit for many years. 
  • Tags :
  • Cancer
  • CAR-T cell therapy
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