other therapies might respond to anti-BCMA CAR T-cells.”
His team reported the findings in the May 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial was funded by Bluebird Bio and Celgene, the companies developing the therapy.
Multiple myeloma is relatively uncommon, based on American Cancer Society statistics: The average person has less than a 1% chance of developing it. But for those who do, the disease is often deadly. Just under half of Americans diagnosed with multiple myeloma die within five years, according to the cancer institute.
Treatment options range from chemotherapy to “targeted” drugs that zero in on certain abnormalities in the cancer, to stem cell transplants.
Some patients respond well to them, said Dr. Melissa Alsina, who heads the multiple myeloma transplant
