"A vast majority of our patients not only responded to the therapy, but they were able to come off their antivirals, which come with extensive side effects," says Michael Keller, the paper's first author and the Translational Research Laboratory director at the Children's National Cell Enhancement and Technologies for Immunotherapy (CETI) program.
In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, researchers found that therapies made from virus-specific T-cells can effectively treat immunocompromised pediatric patients, far surpassing the current standard of care, according to Nature Communications.
More than 60% of patients in the phase 2 clinical trial led by investigators from Children's National Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute responded to the innovative therapy.
This new treatment uses blood from healthy donors to manufacture a highly specialized immune therapy that, when given to immune-compromised patients, prompts their immune system to fight off potentially life-threatening viruses, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr infections, and adenovirus.
Without this therapy, estimates suggest that less than 30% of patients would recover, using standard protocols.
Children's National is one of a handful of hospitals in the US that uses this approach, and the study includes critically ill patients who are often excluded from research.
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