A kinder cancer drug
Some children in the UK are being given a drug for cancer that is designed to be kinder to the body than traditional treatment. Cancer is the name for a collection of diseases caused by oddly behaving cells growing out of control. Cells are the building blocks of your body.
Cancer is treated in many different ways, including chemotherapy – which involves taking strong drugs to kill off cancer cells. However, it can also affect healthy cells and make people feel really sick. The new treatment, called blinatumomab – “blina” for short – teaches the immune system (the body’s tool for protecting itself against illness) to target and kill cancer cells only. Doctors say that, because of this, it is kinder to the body and has fewer nasty side effects.
Blina is being used to treat a type of cancer called B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). It comes in a liquid carried in a “blina backpack”. A tube carries the drug from the bag into the patient’s bloodstream. The backpack means treatment can be given on the go rather than in hospital – giving children more freedom and time at home to do the things they enjoy. Arthur D’Hulst was one of the first children to be given blina, by Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Chemotherapy hadn’t got rid of all of Arthur’s cancer and had made him feel very weak. Blina has helped him a lot, and he’s felt well enough to go to school and enjoy some after-school activities too. Doctors hope to trial the drug over the next few years to see if it can be used for all patients with B-ALL.