Breakthrough in Abu Dhabi May Offer New Cancer Treatment - As-Salamu Alaykum
As-Salamu Alaykum - Some encouraging news from the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre: researchers there say they've made an important step in cancer care that could help patients and offer an alternative to chemotherapy.
The team reports they have, for the first time in the UAE, isolated tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from breast and lung cancers. TIL therapy uses a patient’s own immune cells taken from a tumour, grown and strengthened in a lab, then returned to the patient so those cells can attack the cancer more directly - potentially reducing harm to healthy cells compared with traditional chemo.
This development is paving the way for a national programme to develop TIL therapy locally. It’s a personalised form of immunotherapy that turns each patient’s tumour into a kind of tailored, living treatment, as one of the lead scientists explained. For people with advanced or treatment-resistant tumours, this could mean a new option when other treatments have been exhausted.
TILs have shown promise elsewhere, particularly in melanoma, and there’s hope they may help with other solid tumours like lung, cervical and head and neck cancers. Building this capability in the UAE could spare patients the need to travel overseas and will add valuable data to global research, said the centre’s chief executive.
The centre, opened in late 2019, has been involved in various advanced-health efforts, helping patients with conditions such as multiple sclerosis and different cancers. They’re also reporting progress in other projects, like research on regenerating the pancreas using stem cells in collaboration with international partners - work they hope will lead to real treatment options in the coming years.
May Allah grant success to the researchers and healing to those affected by illness. Ameen.
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