How does an anti-cancer drug worth 1.2 million treat cancer? Is it really effective?

Several friends have been asking Huazi whether the news that has been circulating these days about "1.2 million anti-cancer drugs that can cure cancer with just one injection" is true. Is there really such a magical drug now?

Huazi also saw the relevant news and told his friends that this anti-cancer drug is real, but it is not a "drug" in the traditional sense, but a "treatment method" tailored for cancer patients. It is effective in treating cancer, but the price of 1.2 million yuan is also staggering, which reminds Huazi of the classic line in the movie "Dying to Survive", "There is only one disease in this world, and that is poverty."

1. A Cell Immunotherapy Before understanding this anti-cancer treatment method, let's first spread a common sense. In a healthy person's body, an average of 6,000 cancer cells are produced every day. But the reason why healthy people do not get cancer is that the immune cells in the human body will eliminate these cancer cells and not give them the opportunity to grow into cancer. In other words, the occurrence of cancer is related to the decline of immunity.

The new anti-cancer treatment method is called "Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Immunotherapy", abbreviated as CAR-T. The overall treatment idea is to improve the immunity of cancer patients, increase the function and number of the original immune T cells in the cancer patients' bodies, and eliminate cancer cells.

2. The treatment process of CAR-T therapy In the treatment process of CAR-T, immune T cells are first isolated and extracted from cancer patients, and then the T cells are transformed into CAR-T cells through genetic engineering technology. The T cells' ability to recognize CD19 protein on the surface of cancer cells is enhanced, thereby increasing their ability to attack cancer cells. For example, if ordinary T cells are just ordinary soldiers, they will become "super soldiers" after being transformed.

After the transformation is successful, CAR-T cells are cultivated in large quantities in the laboratory until the number reaches billions or even tens of billions, and then these "super soldiers" are infused back into the cancer patient's body to fight cancer cells. In theory, this is a precise attack on cancer at the cellular level, which can achieve "zero" cancer cells in the body.

3. CAR-T is not a panacea for cancer According to existing clinical trials and actual application results, CAR-T therapy has a narrow scope of application and is only effective for leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. It is mainly used for the treatment of recurrence of these cancers after systemic treatment. However, it is not ideal for the treatment of solid tumors such as gastric cancer, lung cancer, and liver cancer, so it is not a "panacea" that can treat all cancers.

The initial R&D costs of CAR-T therapy are huge, costing billions of yuan. Moreover, the CAR-T cells that are ultimately used for injection in each cancer patient need to be produced individually, which is very costly. The cost of one injection is currently 1.2 million yuan, and with the addition of early and late adjuvant treatments, the total cost will be even higher.

4. Rationally look at CAR-T anti-cancer therapy. We should be rational about CAR-T anti-cancer therapy. Currently, it only has a clear therapeutic effect on blood tumors. However, blood tumors can be treated with cheaper methods such as chemotherapy, targeted drugs, and bone marrow transplantation, and they also have a high cure rate. The expensive CAR-T therapy is not the preferred treatment option.

The significance of CAR-T therapy is that it gives hope to patients who have relapsed after treatment and were originally in despair, but this hope comes at a high price. I believe that as more CAR-T therapies become more popular, the cost of treatment will decrease. In the future, more advanced cell immunotherapies will emerge, which can not only treat blood tumors, but also solid tumors, truly conquering cancer.

In summary, the 1.2 million yuan anti-cancer drug does exist. It is a cellular immunotherapy method using genetic engineering, but it is only effective in treating blood tumors and cannot be used to treat solid tumors. Because of the high cost of research and development, it is necessary to tailor exclusive CAR-T cells for each cancer patient, so the price is expensive. Healthy diet, regular work and rest, and exercise to keep your immune system normal are the "most profitable jobs" in the world. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.