British doctors announced that a new treatment based on genetically modified immune cells was able to defeat an aggressive form of leukemia, the most common cancer in children. A 13-year-old girl, who received a revolutionary treatment, went into remission, AFP and BBC reported.

A 13-year-old girl, Alyssa, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2021. However, the blood cancer did not respond to conventional treatment, including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.

A little girl has started a clinical trial at London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (GOSH) for a new treatment that uses genetically modified immune cells from a healthy volunteer.

Within 28 days, she was in remission, allowing her to undergo another bone marrow transplant to restore her immune system.

A 13-year-old girl is doing well after a new cancer treatment

Six months later, she is “doing well” and is back home in Leicester, central England, where she is being treated.

“Without this experimental treatment, Alyssa’s only option would have been palliative care,” the hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

The case was presented by researchers at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting this weekend.

In acute lymphoblastic leukemia, cells of the immune system, B- and T-lymphocytes, which fight and protect against viruses, are affected.

This paves the way for new treatments

Alyssa is the first known patient to receive modified T cells.

The treatment consists in the chemical transformation of some messages in the DNA code.

In 2015, researchers at the Children’s Hospital and University College London helped develop the use of engineered T cells to treat B-cell leukemia.

But these T cells, designed to attack cancer cells, ended up killing each other, prompting scientists to think of other solutions.

“This is a great demonstration of how, with the help of teams of experts and infrastructure, we can combine advanced technologies in the laboratory with real-world results in the hospital for the benefit of patients,” said Wasim Qasim, consultant immunologist and professor at GOS. This “paves the way to new treatments and ultimately to a better future for sick children,” he added.