Ten percent of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are blood cancers and they can be deadly. There are exciting new treatments and research happening in Baltimore that are giving patients hope."These therapies cure the patients that have no other treatment options. It's been a remarkable breakthrough," Dr. Aaron Rapoport, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said.Cutting-edge technology in cancer treatment will treat many types of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Traditional treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, and stem cell therapy, but what if those treatments don't work? Now there is an immunotherapy for aggressive blood cancers that is seeing remarkable results.Chip Baldwin has a big laugh and immense love for his grandchildren."This is Kyle, he's about 3 1/2 years old and he lives in Florida. (My) granddaughter Maple. She and her family live in Fells Point. And this is (my) granddaughter Rosemary and she's a doll, and they call me Pop-pop," Baldwin said.Baldwin almost never met two of his grandchildren. In January 2018, he was told chemotherapy was no longer working to treat his lymphoma. He thought it was the end."Leaving (my wife) Angela and leaving the family, trying to figure out how they're going to get by," Baldwin said. He was out of options, or so he thought. Not willing to give up, his wife, Angela Baldwin, began researching and came across a promising new treatment."Probably the last treatment that I could have received. Had I not received it and had it not been positive to put me in remission, I probably wouldn't be talking to you today," Baldwin said.The treatment he received had just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) months earlier. It's called "CAR T-cell Therapy." It uses the patient's own, re-engineered, immune cells to kill cancer. Rapoport helped pioneer the development of CAR T-cell at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Baldwin was just the second patient here to receive it."The notion that one could perhaps harness the immune system, or educate the immune system, to better protect us from cancer, but also to recognize and fight against cancer, has been a goal for decades - centuries really," Rapoport said.It appears that goal has been reached. Here's how it works: The medical team extracts immune cells, called T-cells, out of the patient's blood. The cells are sent to a special lab in California, where scientists change the cells' DNA to put receptors on them called "CAR" - Chimeric Antigen Receptors. They enable the immune cells to recognize, hunt down and kill the cancer cells. The California lab then sends the now-re-engineered immune cells back to the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center."These are CAR T-cells growing in the flask here. These are CAR T-cells that were made in the lab," Dr. Djordje Atanackovic of the University of Maryland Medical Center, said. Under a microscope you can see spots on a cancer cell - those spots are the killer CAR T-cells. "You could use these right now to treat a patient, actually," Atanackovic said.For the final step, patients are admitted to the hospital and the medical team puts the T-cells back into the patient, where they multiply by the millions and destroy the cancer. For Baldwin, that was the day after Easter 2018."And, then about four months later, they determined that all the cancer cells had died, " Baldwin said."Being told that their scans are negative is a really overwhelming experience, not just for the patients, but for the families and also the nurses and physicians. The team members that are involved in their care," Rapoport said.When looking at CT scan images of two other lymphoma patients, you see black areas in the images on one is extensive cancer. The other image shows the same patient after CAR T-cell therapy and the cancer is gone. Right now, CAR T-cell Therapy is approved to treat aggressive blood cancers Lymphoma, B-cell Leukemia and Myeloma. But Atanackovic believes that's just the beginning."I'm pretty optimistic that in 10 years from now we'll have novel immunotherapies that we can't even imagine at this point for everyone, or at least most of our patients with cancer," Atanackovic said.Four years after his treatment and Baldwin is still in remission. He doesn't like the word "cure" because he's afraid it's bad luck. The word he keeps coming back to is: "Unbelievable. And even to this day, I kind of can't believe I'm in remission and I'm able to live my life. Since then, I've had two grandchildren and it's been wonderful. Had it not been for the University and the treatment, I would never have seen the two kids," Baldwin saidSo far, 250 patients have been treated with CAR T-cell Therapy at the University of Maryland, but it's not perfect and researchers are still working to improve it. The success rate for patients with aggressive lymphoma for example is 50% and some patients have side effects like flu-like symptoms, so they typically stay in the hospital for days or even weeks.Many may be wondering is this covered by insurance? The answer is yes. Keep in mind, right now it is approved by FDA as a second-line therapy, so you do have to try a different treatment first. But, immunotherapy like CAR-T is the future of cancer treatment and you're going to see more of it.

Ten percent of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are blood cancers and they can be deadly. There are exciting new treatments and research happening in Baltimore that are giving patients hope.

"These therapies cure the patients that have no other treatment options. It's been a remarkable breakthrough," Dr. Aaron Rapoport, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said.

Cutting-edge technology in cancer treatment will treat many types of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Traditional treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, and stem cell therapy, but what if those treatments don't work? Now there is an immunotherapy for aggressive blood cancers that is seeing remarkable results.

Chip Baldwin has a big laugh and immense love for his grandchildren.

"This is Kyle, he's about 3 1/2 years old and he lives in Florida. (My) granddaughter Maple. She and her family live in Fells Point. And this is (my) granddaughter Rosemary and she's a doll, and they call me Pop-pop," Baldwin said.

Baldwin almost never met two of his grandchildren. In January 2018, he was told chemotherapy was no longer working to treat his lymphoma. He thought it was the end.

"Leaving (my wife) Angela and leaving the family, trying to figure out how they're going to get by," Baldwin said.

He was out of options, or so he thought. Not willing to give up, his wife, Angela Baldwin, began researching and came across a promising new treatment.

"Probably the last treatment that I could have received. Had I not received it and had it not been positive to put me in remission, I probably wouldn't be talking to you today," Baldwin said.

The treatment he received had just been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) months earlier. It's called "CAR T-cell Therapy." It uses the patient's own, re-engineered, immune cells to kill cancer.

Rapoport helped pioneer the development of CAR T-cell at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Baldwin was just the second patient here to receive it.

"The notion that one could perhaps harness the immune system, or educate the immune system, to better protect us from cancer, but also to recognize and fight against cancer, has been a goal for decades - centuries really," Rapoport said.

It appears that goal has been reached. Here's how it works:

The medical team extracts immune cells, called T-cells, out of the patient's blood. The cells are sent to a special lab in California, where scientists change the cells' DNA to put receptors on them called "CAR" - Chimeric Antigen Receptors. They enable the immune cells to recognize, hunt down and kill the cancer cells. The California lab then sends the now-re-engineered immune cells back to the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"These are CAR T-cells growing in the flask here. These are CAR T-cells that were made in the lab," Dr. Djordje Atanackovic of the University of Maryland Medical Center, said.

Under a microscope you can see spots on a cancer cell - those spots are the killer CAR T-cells.

"You could use these right now to treat a patient, actually," Atanackovic said.

For the final step, patients are admitted to the hospital and the medical team puts the T-cells back into the patient, where they multiply by the millions and destroy the cancer. For Baldwin, that was the day after Easter 2018.

"And, then about four months later, they determined that all the cancer cells had died, " Baldwin said.

"Being told that their scans are negative is a really overwhelming experience, not just for the patients, but for the families and also the nurses and physicians. The team members that are involved in their care," Rapoport said.

When looking at CT scan images of two other lymphoma patients, you see black areas in the images on one is extensive cancer. The other image shows the same patient after CAR T-cell therapy and the cancer is gone.

Right now, CAR T-cell Therapy is approved to treat aggressive blood cancers Lymphoma, B-cell Leukemia and Myeloma. But Atanackovic believes that's just the beginning.

"I'm pretty optimistic that in 10 years from now we'll have novel immunotherapies that we can't even imagine at this point for everyone, or at least most of our patients with cancer," Atanackovic said.

Four years after his treatment and Baldwin is still in remission. He doesn't like the word "cure" because he's afraid it's bad luck.

The word he keeps coming back to is: "Unbelievable. And even to this day, I kind of can't believe I'm in remission and I'm able to live my life. Since then, I've had two grandchildren and it's been wonderful. Had it not been for the University and the treatment, I would never have seen the two kids," Baldwin said

So far, 250 patients have been treated with CAR T-cell Therapy at the University of Maryland, but it's not perfect and researchers are still working to improve it.

The success rate for patients with aggressive lymphoma for example is 50% and some patients have side effects like flu-like symptoms, so they typically stay in the hospital for days or even weeks.

Many may be wondering is this covered by insurance? The answer is yes. Keep in mind, right now it is approved by FDA as a second-line therapy, so you do have to try a different treatment first. But, immunotherapy like CAR-T is the future of cancer treatment and you're going to see more of it.

Excerpt from:
New cancer treatment changing outlook for those with blood cancers - WBAL TV Baltimore