Catch the Fever! Light the Night!

Jeff and I have now met two people who have benefited from Penn’s gene therapy which was funded in part by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  We met Doug Olsen, one of Dr. Porter’s first T-cell gene therapy patients, in April http://jeffs-journey.blogspot.com/2014/04/white-kneed-jeans-and-other-joys.html and Steve from our Gilda’s Club support group. 

At Gilda’s Club this week Steve smiled and shook his head in awe at his own survival.  He’d had an extremely aggressive lymphoma that responded poorly to traditional treatments (the chemo/radiation Jeff refers to as “bloodletting” except they often work albeit with lingering side effects).  Steve managed to get into a gene therapy study that he didn’t technically qualify for (he was worse off than the patients they were accepting).  While Doug Olsen’s fever began about a month after receiving his genetically-modified T-cells, Steve’s began the evening after his.  The fever accompanied the virus-like spreading of the cancer-killing genetically modified T-cells.  I know this sounds somehow surreal, even unreal, but Steve reports that he was cancer-free within a week!  He states simply:  “Everyone should be getting this treatment.”

Here is one of many articles on the subject: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/07/gene-therapy-scores-big-wins-against-blood-cancers/3902431/

These are exciting times in the field of blood cancer!  Please support our Light the Night team by using the link at right to help L&LS continue their critical work.